Big surprise: Some Ray-Ban Meta owners say their glasses are listening without being asked

Smart glasses have always asked people around the wearer to trust a tiny light. Meta has strengthened that safeguard on its Ray-Ban glasses, including blocking cameras when someone tampers with the capture LED. Now, a handful of owners are raising a different concern: Their glasses may be listening when they were never asked to.

In two Reddit threads, a Ray-Ban Meta owner says three separate pairs, spanning second- and third-generation models, captured ordinary conversations without the “Hey Meta” wake phrase. Apparently, those interactions appeared in the Meta AI app as saved audio recordings and text transcripts, even though “Respond without Hey Meta” was disabled. The owner also says the glasses’ internal notification light sometimes activated during normal conversation and that the behavior began after a recent firmware update.

Several commenters say they have noticed similar unexplained activations, including the internal light turning on without invoking Meta AI. However, reports remain limited, and we haven’t independently reproduced the behavior. There’s also no evidence to suggest this is widespread.

Still, the allegation puts Meta in an uncomfortable position. Earlier this year, Ars Technica reported that contractors reviewing data from Ray-Ban Meta glasses encountered highly sensitive footage, including people in bathrooms and other private situations. Meta has also patched ways users could defeat the glasses’ recording indicator, while reports suggest the company is exploring “super sensing” glasses that could swap the recording light for always-on sensing.

The timing is especially notable. The Verge recently argued that AI hardware is muddying the definition of “recording,” as devices can capture and process sights or sounds without necessarily saving conventional audio or video. That distinction gets harder to defend when transcripts or recordings unexpectedly appear in a user’s history, as affected Meta Glasses users describe.

Android Authority has contacted Meta to ask whether it knows about these reports, whether a recent update could be responsible, and what happens to audio captured through an unintended activation. We’ll update this article if we hear back.