Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses can collect a significant amount of user data, but what exactly gets stored depends on which features a person uses and what settings they have turned on. According to a report by Engadget, the details are more layered than many users assume.
One common concern is whether Meta automatically sees photos and videos taken with the glasses. According to Meta, that is not the case by default.
"Unless users choose to share media they've captured with Meta or others, that media stays on the user's device," a Meta spokesperson confirmed.
The situation changes if a user has opted into cloud media storage. With that setting enabled, captures are automatically uploaded to Meta's servers and stored for 30 days. Meta describes cloud media storage as optional, but notes it is required for certain features to work. Those include the ability to share photos and videos with friends using voice commands, as well as a feature called autocapture. Users can find the cloud media setting in the Meta AI app by going to Settings, then Glasses, then Glasses privacy, then Cloud media.
Deleting an image or video from the app's gallery also removes it from Meta's cloud. The company says it does not use the content of photos or videos to target advertising or to train AI systems, regardless of whether cloud media is turned on.
Using the glasses' built-in AI features involves a different set of tradeoffs. If a user activates a camera-dependent feature, such as Live AI or asking the assistant about something in their field of view, the glasses take a photo for the AI to analyze. Those images are not saved to the user's camera roll, but they are stored by Meta.
Meta also uses third-party contractors to review and label those captures. "When people share content with Meta AI, we sometimes use contractors to review this data for the purpose of im" the company said, with the statement cutting off in available source material. The review process is used to train Meta's AI systems.
The Ray-Ban Meta glasses have drawn growing scrutiny over privacy since earlier versions of the product launched in 2021. The current generation has made AI a central feature, which has added new dimensions to the privacy questions surrounding the device. Meta has updated its policies as the product has evolved, but the use of human reviewers for AI training data remains a point of concern for users who did not expect their interactions with the glasses to be seen by outside contractors.
For users who want to limit data collection, the most significant step is avoiding AI features that require camera use. Standard photo and video capture, without cloud storage enabled and without sharing, remains on the device. But the glasses' most promoted capabilities are built around AI, which means full use of the product comes with data collection that users cannot opt out of entirely.
