Senators Launch Inquiry Into Meta’s ‘Pervert Glasses’

Two Senate Democrats, Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden and Massachusetts Sen. Edward Markey, are launching an inquiry into alleged privacy violations concerning Meta’s line of smart glasses, which the internet has taken to calling “pervert glasses.” “Meta’s smart glasses have increasingly been implicated in disturbing invasions of users’ and bystanders’ privacy,” the senators wrote in a letter sent to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday. “Although Meta identified risks to bystander privacy and vulnerable populations before launching its glasses in 2021, it nevertheless launched a product tailor-made for invading the privacy of its users and bystanders.” The senators are requesting that Meta provide more information before Thanksgiving on whether it conducted detailed human rights due diligence and safety testing on the product before releasing it, how it evaluated the privacy risks posed by the glasses, and what kinds of safeguards are currently in place. Meta glasses have drawn significant ire from the general public after numerous reports showed how perverts have used the technology to covertly film themselves sexually harassing unsuspecting women without their consent. The glasses have become a mainstay for so-called pick-up artists and creators who post pranks online, also often on Meta’s social media platforms. The glasses have also been spotted on ICE agents during raids, and have raised potential surveillance concerns. The surveillance fears were even reportedly raised by the New York Police Department’s counterterrorism unit in a memo issued earlier this year. Recent reports have also brought into question when the glasses are recording interactions and who has access to these recordings. Earlier this month, owners of Meta’s smart glasses took to online forums to claim that their smart glasses were recording some of their conversations without their consent after a recent firmware update. Meta told Gizmodo that the problem had been fixed, but did not elaborate on what exactly caused it. In an even bigger scandal earlier this year, a joint investigation by two Swedish news outlets unveiled that sexual content captured by the smart glasses was getting viewed by Meta’s third-party data labelers in Kenya. Meta swiftly said that they axed the contract. The ordeal led to a lawsuit in which the plaintiffs claimed that they were often not even aware that their Meta glasses had captured those private moments. In the letter, the senators raised concerns about how Meta uses this imagery collected by the glasses to train its AI models as well. “Meta’s own disclosures confirm that imagery processed through its glasses’ visual AI features may be retained and used to train AI systems, including with the assistance of human reviewers,” the senators’ letter states, calling the practice an invasion of privacy. “Retaining that material for AI development, thereby extending the period during which it can be accessed, disclosed, or misused, exploits people’s highly sensitive information for Meta’s commercial benefit.” Meta has been trying to temper the glasses’ bad reputation. Back in July, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri said the team would ban users who post videos of themselves harassing or pranking people, filmed with smart glasses. In August, Meta said that it had updated the glasses to disallow recording if a user covers the LED light that indicates to bystanders that the glasses are recording. Last month, the company also unveiled a line of audio-only smart glasses. Nonetheless, the senators and much of the public seem to remain unconvinced by Meta’s purported efforts. “Meta’s professed commitment to privacy and preventing intimate image abuse rings hollow if the company cannot demonstrate meaningful steps to prevent its own products and practices from facilitating those harms,” the letter states.