Meta tightens privacy policy around Ray-Ban glasses to boost AI training
- Meta is making changes to its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses’ privacy policy to boost AI training. The company will now frequently analyze camera footage unless users disable “Hey Meta” and opt out of voice recording storage.
- The new policy means that voice recordings are no longer fully deletable, but users can delete them anytime in settings. Voice transcripts and stored audio recordings are stored for up to one year to improve Meta’s products.
- These changes aim to provide more data for Meta AI models to train and improve subsequent results. The company is reportedly planning a higher-end pair of Ray-Ban Meta glasses for release later in 2025, with a potential price tag of around $1,000.
- Meta has recently rolled out live translation features and a standalone Meta AI app on smartphones to compete with other AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Gemini. The company is set to report its Q1 2025 earnings later this week.
- The changes in the Ray-Ban Meta glasses’ privacy policy have been noticed by some users since March, but they went into effect as of April 29th for US users. The company’s motivations are clear: to improve AI models and stay competitive in the market.
Meta is making a few notable adjustments to the privacy policy for its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. In an email sent out on April 29th to owners of the glasses, the company outlined two key changes. First, it’s giving Meta AI a more frequent view of the world. “Meta AI with camera use is always enabled on your glasses unless you turn off ‘Hey Meta,” the email said, referring to the hands-free voice command functionality.
So unless you turn that convenience-minded feature off, Meta will frequently be analyzing whatever’s captured by the built-in camera. If you simply want to use the Ray-Ban Metas as a “normal” camera without any artificial intelligence thrown in, you’ll have to disable “Hey Meta” and stick to the physical controls.
Second, Meta is taking after Amazon by no longer allowing Ray-Ban Meta owners to opt out of having their voice recordings stored in the cloud. “The option to disable voice recordings storage is no longer available, but you can delete recordings anytime in settings,” the company wrote. In its voice privacy notice, Meta states that “voice transcripts and stored audio recordings are otherwise stored for up to one year to help improve Meta’s products.” If the company detects that a voice interaction was accidental, those recordings are deleted after a shorter 90-day window.
The motivation behind these changes is clear: Meta wants to continue providing its AI models with heaps of data on which to train and improve subsequent results. Some users began noticing these policy changes in March, but at least in the United States, Meta says they went into effect as of April 29th.
Earlier this month, the company rolled out a live translation feature to the Ray-Ban Meta product. And just yesterday, Meta rolled out a standalone Meta AI app on smartphones to more directly compete with Open AI’s ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Anthropic’s Claude, and other AI chatbots.
The company is reportedly planning a higher-end pair of Ray-Ban Meta glasses for release later in 2025. The current glasses lineup starts at $299, but the more premium version could cost around $1,000. Meta is set to report its Q1 2025 earnings later on Wednesday, and the company is likely to address the tariff chaos that has roiled markets in recent months.