Meta is rolling out an update to its AI-powered smart glasses that will stop the camera from recording if the wearer covers the front-facing capture LED after starting a recording, the company confirmed this week. The change aims to prevent users from bypassing the LED light, which signals when the camera is active, by covering it mid-recording, according to medianama.com.
Alex Himel, Meta’s vice president of augmented reality, explained on Threads that while the camera previously would not start recording if the LED was blocked, some users found a way to start recording and then cover the LED light. The new update ensures the camera stops recording immediately if the LED is covered during an active recording session. This update follows Meta’s earlier privacy measures introduced in July to disable the camera when physical tampering with the LED is detected.
The update addresses growing concerns about privacy and the effectiveness of the small capture LED in alerting bystanders to recording. Meta has faced scrutiny over whether the LED light adequately protects people from being recorded without their knowledge. The company has taken additional steps including removing thousands of posts linked to harassment and prank content, disabling accounts involved in such behaviour, blocking related search terms and hashtags, and removing posts offering instructions to tamper with the LED.
On August 24, the Internet Freedom Foundation in India raised questions about the LED’s effectiveness, highlighting the global attention on privacy safeguards in wearable AI devices. Meta’s latest update marks a concrete step to enhance user and bystander privacy by ensuring the camera cannot record covertly if the LED is obscured.