Attor­ney Gen­er­al Ken Pax­ton Launch­es Inves­ti­ga­tion Into Meta Glass­es to Pro­tect Tex­ans’ Pri­va­cy From Unlaw­ful Mon­i­tor­ing and Col­lec­tion of Facial Data

Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched an investigation into Meta's Meta AI Glasses ("Meta Glasses") over concerns regarding privacy representations and the capabilities of the glasses to expose Texans' private data, recordings, and facial geometry.

Meta Glasses are smart glasses equipped with cameras, speakers, and other communication tools. The glasses enable its wearers to capture and share audio and video data from around them. Meta's privacy policy notes that its smart glasses have an "always enabled" mode which permits the device to constantly process video data for use with Meta AI products. The glasses are equipped with a small LED indicator set to activate when a device is recording audio and video, but this indicator is easily hidden. Furthermore, this LED indicator is not active during the smart glasses' "always enabled" mode.

Although Meta advertises its glasses as "designed for privacy" and claims that it takes steps to protect private and key identifiable information, serious concerns have arisen. Individuals at Meta's subcontractor Sama, located in Kenya, access consumers private information despite Meta's privacy representations. Sama's data annotators have claimed that they have access to video material of users' private moments, such as bathroom visits and other intimate moments. Although employees claim that faces that appear in annotated data are automatically blurred, one employee noted that that is not always the case.

In addition to these concerns, reporting from the New York Times indicates that Meta plans to bring facial recognition technology to the Meta Glasses. Internally code-named "Name Tag," this feature would allow Meta to collect unsuspecting individuals' facial geometry from Meta Glasses' built-in, inconspicuous cameras.

"I will continue to relentlessly stand up to any company that threatens the privacy and safety of Texans," said Attorney General Paxton. "Meta's glasses raise serious concerns, and my office will thoroughly investigate these devices to ensure that no individual is being unlawfully recorded, tracked, or subjected to the unauthorized collection of their data."

In July of 2024, Attorney General Paxton secured a $1.4 billion settlement with Meta (formerly known as Facebook) over its unlawful facial recognition technology software in its application. Attorney General Paxton has issued a Civil Investigative Demand ("CID") to the company to investigate and determine whether Meta deceptively misrepresents the extent of its use of private data from consumers in violation of Texas law.