Meta Platforms—Meta sued by 70+ plaintiffs alleging smart glasses captured and shared intimate images with overseas contractors without consent
An amended class-action lawsuit filed in late August 2026 and reported September 18, 2026 alleges Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses captured footage of more than 70 plaintiffs undressing, using bathrooms, having sex, and entering passwords, sometimes without the wearer or subject being aware the camera was recording. The suit alleges this footage, including intimate and sensitive images, was exposed to third-party contractors in Kenya who help train Meta's AI systems. Following the backlash, Meta announced an opt-out allowing users to exclude visual data from AI training and third-party contractor review, though audio interactions remain used for training by default, and released new camera-free Ray-Ban glasses.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform Labor Conditions | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| User Privacy | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.429 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (critical ×2) × confidence (0.57)× agency (negligent ×0.5)
Evidence (2 signals)
Engadget: Meta will let users opt out of visual-data AI training from smart glasses after privacy backlash
Engadget reported that following privacy backlash over its smart glasses, Meta introduced a setting allowing users to opt out of having visual data used for AI training and reviewed by third-party contractors, though audio interactions remain used for training by default unless manually deleted.
LA Times: Meta smart glasses captured and shared intimate images without users' consent, lawsuit claims
The Los Angeles Times reported that more than 70 people filed an amended class-action lawsuit alleging Meta's smart glasses recorded them or others undressing, using the bathroom, having sex, and entering passwords, and that this footage was exposed to overseas contractors in Kenya who assist with training Meta's AI.