Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta is facing a lawsuit after reports emerged that contract workers in Kenya reviewed sensitive footage from customers’ AI smart glasses, including images of nudity, drug deals, and intimate activities.
TechCrunch reports that the lawsuit, filed by plaintiffs Gina Bartone of New Jersey and Mateo Canu of California, alleges that Meta violated privacy laws and engaged in false advertising related to its AI-enabled smart glasses. The legal action, brought by the public interest-focused Clarkson Law Firm, also names Luxottica of America, Meta’s glasses manufacturing partner, charging both companies with conduct that violates consumer protection laws.
The legal challenge follows an investigation by Swedish newspapers that revealed workers at a Kenya-based subcontractor were reviewing footage captured by users of Meta’s smart glasses and shared with Meta’s AI. The reviewed content included highly sensitive material such as nudity, people engaged in sexual activity, and individuals using the bathroom. Meta had claimed that faces in images were being blurred, but sources disputed the consistency of this privacy measure, according to the reports.
The revelations prompted regulatory scrutiny beyond the United States. The United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) announced it would investigate the matter following the initial reports.
The lawsuit centers on Meta’s marketing claims for the smart glasses. According to the complaint, the devices were advertised with promises including “designed for privacy, controlled by you” and “built for your privacy.” The plaintiffs argue that such marketing language would not lead customers to assume their glasses’ footage, including intimate moments, was being watched by overseas workers. Bartone and Canu stated they believed Meta’s marketing materials and saw no disclaimer or information contradicting the advertised privacy protections.
The complaint highlights examples of advertisements that emphasized privacy benefits, describing privacy settings and an “added layer of security.” One advertisement specifically stated, “You’re in control of your data and content,” explaining that smart glasses owners could choose which content was shared with others.
In a statement to Breitbart News, a Meta spokesperson stated:
Ray-Ban Meta glasses help you use AI, hands free, to answer questions about the world around you. Unless users choose to share media they’ve captured with Meta or others, that media stays on the user’s device. When people share content with Meta AI, we sometimes use contractors to review this data for the purpose of improving people’s experience, as many other companies do. We take steps to filter this data to protect people’s privacy and to help prevent identifying information from being reviewed.
Silicon Valley giants who have transformed America’s attention and privacy into an economic engine have now embraced AI. Breitbart News social media director Wynton Hall has written his forthcoming book, Code Red: The Left, the Right, China, and the Race to Control AI, to serve as the definitive guide on how the MAGA movement can create positions on AI that benefit humanity without handing control of our nation to the leftists of Silicon Valley or allowing the Chinese to take over the world.
Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who was named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in AI, praised Code Red as a “must-read.” She added: “Few understand our conservative fight against Big Tech as Hall does,” making him “uniquely qualified to examine how we can best utilize AI’s enormous potential, while ensuring it does not exploit kids, creators, and conservatives.” Award-winning investigative journalist and Public founder Michael Shellenberger calls Code Red “illuminating,” ”alarming,” and describes the book as “an essential conversation-starter for those hoping to subvert Big Tech’s autocratic plans before it’s too late.”
Read more at TechCrunch here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
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