Meta AI glasses showed bank info, naked people, and porn to overseas workers: report

An investigation by the Swedish news outlets Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) and Goteborgs-Posten (GP) is expected to put regulators on alert after it was reported that Meta’s contract workers saw extremely private and graphic content captured by wearers of Meta’s AI smart glasses.

According to their report from late February, these contract workers, who sift through videos for data annotation purposes, saw content including sensitive bank information, naked people, sexual encounters, pornography, and even toilet visits.

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Some videos were captured by accident, such as when the wearer put down their smart glasses without realising they were still activated, the report said.

In response to these findings, the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has written to Meta requesting for more information to ensure the social network company is compliant with UK laws, per a BBC report this week.

Contract workers, often based in countries such as Kenya, shared their distress at the kind of explicit content they were made to view and process as part of their job, the Swedish media reported.

These findings have triggered a wave of outrage on social media platforms, with users questioning how sensitive content recorded by the Meta AI glasses was being handled. There were also concerns about how much human labour is used by Meta to process the sensitive footage and chat transcriptions featuring people’s everyday routines, work-related responsibilities, and intimate home life.

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Meta claimed that it filtered its data to protect people’s privacy before any content was shared with the contractors who enhance the overall AI experience, reported BBC.

However, the Swedish media investigation disputes this claim.

Meta’s AI glasses, made in partnership with brands such as Ray-Ban and Oakley, saw a surge in popularity when they released both in the U.S. and in India. Users can leverage Meta AI in order to handle notifications through the smart glasses, make payments, capture videos, translate content, and even interact with AI assistants voiced by celebrities.