Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses have faced privacy concerns over how people use their cameras to record others. Now, reports from users suggest the glasses may also be capturing conversations without an explicit voice command, raising questions about how their audio recording features behave.
Ray-Ban Meta Users Report Unexpected Audio Recordings
According to a recent post by Reddit user u/Kindly-Audience-137 on the r/RaybanMeta subreddit, some Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses appear to be recording conversations without users explicitly activating the voice assistant.
Owners of both the 2nd- and 3rd-generation models claim their devices are capturing audio and generating full-text transcripts within the companion app. As per these users, this is happening even when the mandatory "Hey Meta" wake phrase is never spoken.
Some users say this has happened despite disabling the "Respond without Hey Meta" and "Background conversations" settings. Several reportedly noticed the glasses' white LED illuminated during conversations, prompting them to check their recording history.
We also observed similar behaviour on our second-generation Ray-Ban Meta glasses. Initially, we suspected it might be an isolated software glitch. However, we subsequently found unexpected recordings in the voice log without having deliberately invoked the wake phrase.
This happened even though we had the Background Conversations, Share additional data and Cloud media toggles turned off in the companion app. So, there's basically nothing to invoke the smart glasses to record audio in the first place.
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Users Seek Clarity on Audio Recording Behaviour
The behaviour could be related to a software or firmware issue, although its cause has not been established. Some affected users say their interactions with Meta Support have not provided a clear explanation of what might be happening.
According to these users, suggested troubleshooting steps included disabling microphone access and enabling Wear Detection. While these settings may help users limit certain device functions, they could also restrict the hands-free features that make the smart glasses useful.
Some affected owners are reportedly compiling device logs to better understand the issue, with a few also discussing possible legal action if further investigation establishes a wider problem.
At this stage, the reports do not establish how widespread the behaviour is or what triggers the unexpected recordings. A clearer explanation from Meta would help affected users understand whether this is a software issue and what steps they can take to address it.
Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses have previously attracted scrutiny over privacy concerns, including instances where users covered the white recording LED to film others without their knowledge.
Meta has taken measures against certain uses of modified glasses that circumvent recording indicators, although the issue has continued to draw attention to consent and transparency. This was also one of the reasons why Meta recently unveiled camera-less Ray-Bans.
However, the latest reports raise a separate question about how reliably the glasses handle audio recording when users have not deliberately activated the voice assistant.
If the behaviour is confirmed to be a software issue, a clear explanation and an appropriate fix would help reassure users about how their conversations are handled.
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