Are Ray-Ban Meta glasses a privacy risk? Here's what you should know

Not all features are equal when it comes to securing your data.

Meta doesn't exactly have the best track record when it comes to protecting users' privacy. So it's not surprising that people have grown increasingly distrustful of the company's smart glasses.

I've been writing about my own mixed feelings when it comes to Meta's glasses and privacy since the first Ray-Ban Stories shades came out in 2021 . I've also spent a lot of time chatting with Meta about its privacy policies as the product has evolved over the years and AI has become a central feature.

As you might expect, Meta is able to scoop up a lot of data from its eyewear. But exactly what it collects can vary depending on your settings and what features you're using. Here's what I've learned about what Meta is able to access, and how to limit its collection where possible (spoiler: it's not always possible.)

The idea that Meta will automatically see any photo or video captured with its glasses is something I've encountered a lot in my reporting about people's discomfort with the product. You wouldn't expect a photo shared on Instagram or Facebook to stay private, so it's understandable that people might assume the same for anything captured on the company's smart glasses. But that's not the case, according to Meta.

"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 to me.

Things get a little more complicated, however, if you've opted into cloud media storage. If you have the setting enabled, your captures are automatically stored on Meta's servers for 30 days . Meta notes that cloud media is an optional setting, though it's necessary for some features to work. This includes the ability to share photos and videos with friends via voice commands and features like autocapture .

Deleting an image or video from the gallery in the Meta AI app will also delete it from the company's cloud. The company also says it doesn't use the content of users' photos and videos to serve advertising or train its AI systems, regardless of cloud media settings.