The bug makes one of the biggest fears about the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses a reality

The bug has been fixed, but privacy concerns remain.

LED light shines when a woman records with Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.

Some Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses recorded people's conversations without the user's knowledge. Recordings were made without users saying the quick phrase ("Hey, Meta") in a bug that Meta says has been fixed.

This week, some users reported online that their Ray-Ban Metas were recording without their consent. For example, someone visiting Kindly-Audience-137 on Reddit said that this happened to them on three re-ben metas and that they turned off the "Respond without Hey Meta" setting. The person said that the Meta AI app "saves audio recordings and the text of these conversations in my conversation history."

Reddit user said: "I believe this deserves a serious technical review. Customers shouldn't be wondering if their private conversations are being recorded when they didn't intentionally activate their glasses' AI assistant."

Android Authority reported the discussions on Tuesday. Later that day, he posted a response from Meta that read:

"This issue has been resolved. People can review and delete audio logs of their interactions with Meta AI at any time through the admin settings."

Although the meta message indicates that the bug has been fixed, the broader privacy issue remains.

Meta did not say what caused Ray-ban Metas to record people without the user's consent. Reddit user Kindly-Audience-137 said they "first noticed this behavior after a recent firmware update," but Meta has not confirmed whether a faulty update caused the bug.

We also don't know how many Meta smart glasses are affected. There are a few reports online, but Android Authority said it wasn't able to replicate the issue before Meta said it fixed it.

Ars Technica sent Meta a message asking Meta what it's doing to prevent such bugs from happening in the future and how many devices are affected. We'll update this article if we hear back.

However, even a handful of affected devices is cause for concern.

Prior to reports of the bug, privacy advocates had expressed widespread concerns about Meta's smart glasses, as well as other vendors. Beyond the fear that naturally accompanies the release of new technology that includes microphones and cameras, the MetaGlasses, with their more inconspicuous appearance, push the boundaries of privacy further, raising concerns about how much it could secretly record someone else.

Meta has previously tried to allay concerns by pointing out that its glasses light up when recording audio or video. But this week's bug shows that even with this light enabled, it's possible for smart glasses to inadvertently record.

The short meta statement does little to alleviate these concerns. Meanwhile, the bug lends credence to reports and apprehension that Ray-Ban Metas is recording without the subjects knowledge.

Meta has been steadfast in its push for devices that put microphones and cameras in people's homes and on people's faces, while battling fears that the devices could be used for non-consensual recordings.

Contractors from SAMA, a data annotation company headquartered in Kenya, say they have seen video taken by Ray-Ban Metas, apparently without the knowledge of the user or other people in the video. A report by Swedish journalists earlier this year interviewed more than 30 SEMA workers and noted a machine-translated "flow of privacy-sensitive data directly into the tech giant's systems," resulting in workers observing private activities, such as a bespectacled partner emerging from the bathroom naked.

"Meta has such content in its databases. People can record themselves in the wrong way and not even know what they are recording," the report quoted an anonymous SAMA employee as saying.

In the US, the report led to a lawsuit seeking class action certification [PDF] and an investigation by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

In August, Meta updated its smart glasses to stop recording if the glasses' indicator light is covered. However, some potential privacy violations using Ray-Ban Metas depend on a bad human actor. But this latest flaw, as well as reports from SAMA workers, highlight the possibility of well-intentioned users inadvertently recording things, too.

The privacy shortcomings of the Ray-Ban Meta and other smart glasses have raised concerns about surreptitious recording in public and the creation of apps to identify the smart glasses. Privacy concerns have also led to proposed legislation, including in Norway, which is considering a temporary ban.

Glasses like the Ray-Ban Metas have the potential to intentionally or unintentionally violate people's privacy, whether through technical issues, sharing data without the user's consent, or poor design. Without further ado, one of the biggest drawbacks of devices like the Ray-Ban Metas remains the fear of non-consensual recording, a fear that this week's bug made a reality.

Sharon is a senior technology reporter at Ars Technica, writing news, reviews, and analysis about consumer gadgets and services. He has been reporting on technology for over 10 years with bylines at Tom’s Hardware, Channelnomics and CRN UK.