Class action claims Meta AI glasses recordings used to train AI without users’ knowledge

Meta class action lawsuit overview:

• Who: Plaintiffs Gina Bartone and Mateo Canu filed a class action lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc. and Luxottica of America Inc.
• Why: Bartone and Canu claim Meta violated federal and state laws by failing to disclose that its AI smart glasses transmit videos to third-party contractors for human review.
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court.

Meta Platforms is facing a class action lawsuit alleging it failed to disclose that its AI smart glasses transmit videos to third-party contractors for human review.

Plaintiffs Gina Bartone and Mateo Canu filed the class action complaint against Meta Platforms and Luxottica of America on March 4 in California federal court, alleging violations of federal and state laws.

According to the class action lawsuit, Meta’s AI smart glasses, marketed as “designed for privacy,” actually transmit videos to third-party contractors for human review.

The Meta class action lawsuit claims the company misled consumers by failing to disclose that videos captured by the glasses are sent to Meta’s servers and then to a subcontractor in Kenya, where human workers manually view and label the footage to train Meta’s AI models.

Plaintiffs allege Meta AI smart glasses marketing misled consumers

Bartone and Canu argue that Meta’s marketing campaign, which promised that the glasses were “designed for privacy, controlled by you,” was false and misleading.

Workers in Kenya reportedly see highly sensitive moments, such as people changing clothes or engaging in private activities, the Meta class action alleges.

“No reasonable consumer would understand ‘designed for privacy, controlled by you’ and similar promises like ‘built for your privacy’ to mean that deeply personal footage from inside their homes would be viewed and catalogued by human workers overseas,” the class action lawsuit says.

The plaintiffs claim they purchased the glasses after relying on Meta’s privacy assurances and would not have bought them had they known the truth.

The class action accuses Meta of violating state consumer protection laws and seeks to hold the company accountable for its alleged false advertising and failure to disclose the true nature of its data practices.

The plaintiffs are seeking to represent anyone who purchased the Meta AI glasses in the United States. They are demanding a jury trial and requesting damages and restitution for class members.

Last year, Meta was sued over allegations it illegally collected nonanonymized browsing data from Android users.

What do you think of the claims made in this Meta class action lawsuit? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiffs are represented by Ryan J. Clarkson, Yana Hart, Mark I. Richards, Cassandra Rasmussen and Jiaming Zheng of Clarkson Law Firm P.C.

The Meta class action lawsuit is Bartone, et al. v. Meta Platforms Inc., et al., Case No. 3:26-cv-01897, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division.

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