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Title: Australia Considers Smart Glasses Ban in Government Workplaces, While
70 People Sue Meta Over Unknowing Data Collection

Link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/09/21/02432...

"Australia is considering barring the use of camera-equipped smart glasses in
government workplaces..." reports Reuters, "in what it said could be the
first ban of its kind." But meanwhile "more than 70 people who bought, used
or were recorded with Meta's smart glasses have sued the social media giant,"
reports the Los Angeles Times, "claiming their intimate and sensitive images
were exposed to workers abroad who are paid to review and label photos and
videos." The contractors in Kenya work for companies that help train Meta's
artificial intelligence, according to a proposed class-action lawsuit amended
in late August. The smart glasses users, some in California, allege the
gadget captured footage of themselves and family members undressing, going to
the bathroom, having sex and entering passwords. In some cases, the people
said they weren't aware the camera-equipped glasses were recording. One
California user, referred to as PL18 in the lawsuit, alleges his glasses were
unknowingly recording after he placed the smart glasses on the bathroom
counter. "He noticed that at times photos of his family members using the
bathroom and bathing began appearing in his gallery - footage no one in his
household intended to take," the lawsuit said.... The 230-page lawsuit, filed
in a federal court in Northern California, accuses Meta of fraud and false
advertising, along with violating other consumer protection laws in various
states. Tina Wolfson, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs, said
the case also centers on Meta's surveillance of people's lives without their
consent and the exploitation of their image and likeness. "People who bought
these glasses and thought that they were cool gadgets weren't aware that
every time they activated AI, video was sent to train Meta's AI," said
Wolfson, a principal at law firm Ahdoot & Wolfson in Burbank. Meta
disagrees with the allegations and intends to fight them. "If you use Meta
AI, we may review that data to help improve our products and people's
experiences - this works the same way as many other companies. We take steps
to filter this data to help remove identifying information and to protect
people's privacy," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement... The lawsuit
alleges people wearing the smart glasses were unwittingly transmitting data
to Meta whenever they used Meta AI by saying "Hey Meta," or sometimes
accidentally when adjusting the glasses. "Every activation of the AI
features, intentional or accidental, captures video and audio that is
transmitted to Meta's servers, routed overseas, and reviewed by low-paid
human workers who watch, label, and embed these moments into Meta's AI
models," the lawsuit said... The lawsuit also seeks to block Meta from
deploying biometric tools through its glasses. The company has been exploring
a controversial feature called "NameTag" that would allow people to identify
others... A separate lawsuit, filed in September in a federal court in
Illinois, alleges Meta has been using images of people's faces uploaded to
their public Facebook and Instagram accounts to train AI that powers NameTag
and other AI tools.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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