Meta smart glasses are getting a fix that closes a loophole letting wearers record with the capture light covered. From the update, the camera stops working if the light is covered during a recording, The Verge reports.
What was the Meta smart glasses loophole?
Meta smart glasses already disable their cameras when someone covers the LED that blinks to show a recording or photo is being taken. The loophole was timing: a wearer could start recording, then cover the light. Alex Himel, Meta’s vice president of augmented reality, wrote on Threads that “the camera will now stop working if the light is covered during a recording.”
The fix arrives a little over a month after Meta updated its glasses to turn the camera off when wearers physically tamper with the capture light.
Why the fix was needed
Meta’s smart glasses have drawn scrutiny over privacy and harassment, with reports of wearers recording people without consent and filming pranks on bystanders. Concerns deepened after a report that Meta was adding facial recognition to the glasses, and a global campaign against the product earned it a reputation one headline summed up as “pervert glasses”.
“We’re going to keep rolling out updates like this to make sure the capture LED can reliably alert bystanders when photos or videos are being captured for someone’s gallery. Only a tiny minority of people try to get around these protections, and the fact they have to go to these lengths shows our efforts are working.”
Alex Himel, Meta vice president of augmented reality
Meta’s awareness push
Meta is also running a campaign to explain the capture light in places where the glasses sell well. Its billboards read “Designed for everyone. Not just the people wearing them,” with the line: “The camera lets you capture the moment. The light lets everyone around you know when you do.”
What this means for the UAE
Ray-Ban Meta glasses are sold in the UAE, the original Wayfarer from about AED 1,214 on Amazon.ae and the Gen 2 from about AED 1,862, so the update reaches local owners of the current line. It is the latest turn for Meta’s AI glasses range, which this year gained handwriting-in-the-air input alongside the Ray-Ban and Oakley styles.
What was the Meta smart glasses loophole?
Wearers could start recording, then cover the LED capture light so people nearby could not tell a recording was in progress. The update stops the camera from working whenever the light is covered.
How does the fix work?
Once the update arrives, covering the capture light during a recording stops the camera. It follows an earlier update that disabled the camera when the light was physically tampered with.
How much do Meta glasses cost in the UAE?
Ray-Ban Meta glasses sell in the UAE from about AED 1,214 for the original Wayfarer on Amazon.ae; the Gen 2 starts around AED 1,862.
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