Meta in row after workers who saw smart glasses users having sex lose jobs • Hacker News Board

Re: Meta in row after workers who saw smart glasses users having sex lose jobs

#81

Post by randallsquared » Thu, Apr 30, 2026, 2:24 PM UTC

1718627440 wrote: post #62

OutOfHere wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> People have a right to record in public I do not want to live in such a dystopian country. No this right shouldn't exist and I'm glad it doesn't in my country. > If none of this makes sense to you, wait till standalone cameras become much smaller to where they become a smartbutton -- what will you do then? Why are you against killing? Wait till you don't need to hit them but can accelerate metal pieces at them -- w…

> No this right shouldn't exist and I'm glad it doesn't in my country.

Smartphones are illegal in your country? I am skeptical.

The right to record is the right to remember.

Re: Meta in row after workers who saw smart glasses users having sex lose jobs

#82

Post by voidUpdate » Thu, Apr 30, 2026, 2:25 PM UTC

ClawsOnPaws wrote: post #65

voidUpdate wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are the reasonable and legitimate uses of smart glasses with cameras in that can record without the subject being aware?

I am blind, and I could imagine several usecases which would make my life a lot easier by using glasses like this. But because of their reputation I will most likely never use them, and especially not in public. I'm already afraid enough people will think I'm recording them when I use my phone to get info about what's around me, definitely don't need to get punched in the face for wearing meta on my face. Edit: Not t…

I can imagine there are many use-cases for blind people, but I also think having some kind of visual indicator that "these glasses are recording" would be good, and I don't know what tools you use in public at the moment, but if you use, for example, a white cane, it might help people to understand "this person is using a camera for assistance". But yes, the fact that glasses manufacturers have already demonstrated they want to take every frame of data they can does sour their reputation

Re: Meta in row after workers who saw smart glasses users having sex lose jobs

#83

Post by embedding-shape » Thu, Apr 30, 2026, 2:25 PM UTC

SV_BubbleTime wrote: post #73

HarHarVeryFunny wrote: post #9

Not sure which is worse here - that Meta are recording video from customers' smart glasses, or that they are firing people who talk about it.

Can I squeeze in the just a teeny tiny bit of… why the hell are you wearing an internet camera on you while naked and/or having sex? … although I really extend that to why are you wearing an internet connected camera that is obviously going to be monitored by Meta.

So already, this person wearing these glasses are already agree with that Meta can monitor them. They also probably trust Meta when they say "When the glasses are off, nothing is recording", for better or worse. So with that perspective in mind, it's not far fetched to assume these same people will willingly be naked into front of these recording devices they believe to be off.

Of course, anyone who opened a newspaper in the last 10 years or so would know better, but I can definitively see some people not giving a fuck about it.

Re: Meta in row after workers who saw smart glasses users having sex lose jobs

#84

Post by wolvoleo » Thu, Apr 30, 2026, 2:25 PM UTC

monegator wrote: post #45

OutOfHere wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

dash cams are local and pointing at the road, not everywhere. body cams are local and mostly used by law enforcement to guarantee they are not abusing their power. glassholes are connected to the cloud. you may have the right to record on public space, i have the right to remain anonymous in the crowd and not be constatly targeted by an advertisement company. Even if 1% of the corner cases are legit uses (blind peopl…

Yes and those blind people are easily recognised and I'm sure there will be a lot more understanding of them using such products.

Re: Meta in row after workers who saw smart glasses users having sex lose jobs

#85

Post by swiftcoder » Thu, Apr 30, 2026, 2:26 PM UTC

One of the bigger commercial niches for smart glasses is filming POV porn, so it is hardly surprising that sort of content ended up in the moderation queue. The project should have planned to account for that use case.

Re: Meta in row after workers who saw smart glasses users having sex lose jobs

#86

Post by 2ndorderthought » Thu, Apr 30, 2026, 2:26 PM UTC

ClawsOnPaws wrote: post #65

voidUpdate wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are the reasonable and legitimate uses of smart glasses with cameras in that can record without the subject being aware?

I am blind, and I could imagine several usecases which would make my life a lot easier by using glasses like this. But because of their reputation I will most likely never use them, and especially not in public. I'm already afraid enough people will think I'm recording them when I use my phone to get info about what's around me, definitely don't need to get punched in the face for wearing meta on my face. Edit: Not t…

I'm sorry you are dealing with the social repercussions of assistive technology. I really wish companies weren't so gross and that they did not endanger some of the advantages of advances like this by being gross

Re: Meta in row after workers who saw smart glasses users having sex lose jobs

#87

Post by wolvoleo » Thu, Apr 30, 2026, 2:27 PM UTC

voidUpdate wrote: post #82

ClawsOnPaws wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am blind, and I could imagine several usecases which would make my life a lot easier by using glasses like this. But because of their reputation I will most likely never use them, and especially not in public. I'm already afraid enough people will think I'm recording them when I use my phone to get info about what's around me, definitely don't need to get punched in the face for wearing meta on my face. Edit: Not t…

I can imagine there are many use-cases for blind people, but I also think having some kind of visual indicator that "these glasses are recording" would be good, and I don't know what tools you use in public at the moment, but if you use, for example, a white cane, it might help people to understand "this person is using a camera for assistance". But yes, the fact that glasses manufacturers have already demonstrated t…

They have such an indication already, an LED light on the other side of the frame.

Of course you have to be able to spot that. And trust that it really doesn't record when it's off (note that it simply may be covered by the user)

Re: Meta in row after workers who saw smart glasses users having sex lose jobs

#88

Post by Frieren » Thu, Apr 30, 2026, 2:27 PM UTC

gorbachev wrote: post #2

Meta cancels the contract with the outsourcing company they contracted to classify smart glasses content after employees at the company whistleblow about serious privacy issues with the content they were paid to classify.

Whistleblower protection is key for any working society. Only dictatorships and oligarchies protect criminals while shaming whistleblowers.

I do not care which country the outsourcing company is in. When criminals go global, protection whistleblowers should go global too.

Re: Meta in row after workers who saw smart glasses users having sex lose jobs

#89

Post by close04 » Thu, Apr 30, 2026, 2:28 PM UTC

OutOfHere wrote: post #43

voidUpdate wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are the reasonable and legitimate uses of smart glasses with cameras in that can record without the subject being aware?

I already noted it in the answer. If a person feels at risk, or even if they're on vacation, they have a right to record something/everything and someone/everyone around them in public, just as they could with a phone. Do you think you will know if someone has their phone in their pocket or in a holster, and is turned on and recording? You will never know. There are dozens if not hundreds of cameras pointed at the st…

> Do you think you will know if someone has their phone in their pocket or in a holster, and is turned on and recording? You will never know.

At least this says something about the intention. Someone who films with a hidden phone implicitly shows that they intentionally hid this from the people being filmed.

Filming with glasses is hidden by design. It gives plausible deniability to the person filming, so they can film covertly but pretend they weren't hiding anything.

In most cases this doesn't make a difference but there are some cases where the premeditation can make it worse for the person doing the "abusive" filming.

Re: Meta in row after workers who saw smart glasses users having sex lose jobs

#90

Post by everdrive » Thu, Apr 30, 2026, 2:29 PM UTC

randallsquared wrote: post #74

everdrive wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I don't think that's fair. Smartglasses have legitimate purposes. I think that's true in principle, but in practice there are going to be two kinds of smart glasses users; extraordinarily annoying kids or you adults acting annoying in public so they can post videos to social media, and then normal people who have no clear sense for how much they're violating the privacy of those around them, and just like cool tech.…

> Very, very few users are going to be an interesting or valid use case You then list a mere two categories. Would your argument have been similar in 2008 if told that in ten years, everyone in the economic first world would be carrying multiple cameras including a dedicated "selfie" camera at all times?

I'm not sure I understand the point about a dedicate "selfie" camera, however I think we're conflating "percentage of users" with "varieties of use cases." I think there could be quite a cornucopia of potential use cases, but I think per capita most people will not actually be making use of these. As other commenters have pointed out, I'd be a lot more tolerant if the data were not constantly piped to Meta.