Peeping Tech: Texas Slams Meta Over Glasses Filming Users’ Bathroom Visits

On the same day Mark Zuckerberg laid off 8 thousand employees due to AI, the State of Texas launches an investigation into Meta’s AI smart glasses.

Texas Launches Privacy Investigation Into Meta AI Smart Glasses

Meta’s smart glasses have been well received by some consumers, while others find them creepy and possibly illegal. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is in the latter group and has officially opened a sweeping consumer protection investigation into Meta over its newly deployed Meta AI Glasses.

Paxton’s Concerns with Meta Glasses

The state’s top prosecutor expressed severe concerns regarding the tech giant's privacy representations, specifically targeting the wearable device’s capability to continuously harvest and potentially expose the private data, personal audio-visual recordings, and unique facial traits of unsuspecting Texans.

The Regulatory Conflict Over "Always-On" Hardware

The "focus" (sorry) of the investigation is the hardware in the glasses that allows them to record video and sound...features that are always on.

Always On

The “always enabled” setting permits the glasses to continuously process real-time environmental video data to feed Meta’s integrated artificial intelligence systems. The company says it is easy to see if recording is underway due to a light.

Safety Flaws

While the product features a miniature LED notification light meant to signal to the public when active audio or video recording is taking place, regulators noted two major safety flaws:

Concealment: The small indicator light can be easily obstructed or taped over by users.

Passive Tracking: The LED light remains entirely dark and inactive while the device operates in its background "always enabled" processing mode.

This hardware reality runs counter to Meta's public marketing campaigns, which heavily promote the wearable technology as a product explicitly "designed for privacy."

International Outsourcing

The investigation also finds severe vulnerabilities regarding how Meta manages the data captured by these devices. According to reports, third-party contractors working for a data-tagging subcontractor based in Kenya, have regular access to raw consumer data despite Meta's institutional security promises. Kenyans employed by the firm admit to viewing highly personal, unblurred user footage that show very personal moments including private bathroom visits.

Name Tag Biometrics

Internal documentation obtained by the New York Times reveals that Meta plans to deploy a facial recognition application for the smart eyewear. Internally designated under the code name “Name Tag,” the upcoming update would empower the device to map and store the facial geometry of completely unaware bystanders using the glasses' inconspicuous frame cameras.

A History of Billion-Dollar Legal Friction

This probe does not mark Texas's first major confrontation with the multi-billion-dollar technology enterprise. In July 2024, Attorney General Paxton won a historic $1.4 billion settlement against Meta over the illegal extraction of biometric identifiers on Facebook.