By The Chronicle Staff

As artificial intelligence-powered glasses become increasingly common, one of the biggest questions surrounding the technology has little to do with AI itself: How do you know when someone wearing them is recording you?

Meta is making another change to its smart glasses in an effort to provide a clearer answer.

The company is rolling out a software update designed to close a loophole that allowed users to conceal the small LED light intended to alert people nearby when the glasses are recording video. Under the update, the camera will stop working if the glasses detect that the recording light has been covered while a recording is already underway.

Meta's AI glasses, including models developed with Ray-Ban, can look similar to traditional eyeglasses while containing cameras, microphones, speakers and artificial intelligence capabilities. Wearers can use them to take photos and videos, listen to music, make calls and interact with Meta's AI assistant.

That convenience, however, has created a new privacy concern.

Unlike someone holding up a smartphone to record a video, a person wearing smart glasses can potentially capture an interaction without making it immediately obvious that a camera is pointed at someone.

Meta has attempted to address that concern with what it calls a "capture LED." The white light on the front of the glasses blinks when a photo is taken and continues blinking while video is being recorded. Meta says the light cannot simply be switched off by the wearer.

The glasses were already designed to prevent someone from beginning a recording if the LED was covered.

But users discovered a workaround.

A person could begin recording while the light was visible and then cover the LED after the recording had started. The camera would continue operating, potentially allowing someone to record people nearby without the visual warning.

Meta Vice President of Augmented Reality Alex Himel acknowledged the loophole and said the company's latest update is designed to close it.

With the new software, if the LED becomes covered during an active recording, the camera is supposed to stop working.

Meta says only a small percentage of users attempt to defeat the privacy safeguards and that the company intends to continue improving the technology as people find new ways to circumvent them.

The issue has received increased attention as videos recorded with smart glasses have spread across social media. Some content creators have used the devices to record strangers during conversations and encounters without making it obvious that the interaction was being filmed.

In one recent case highlighted by CBS News, a woman said she discovered she had been recorded with Meta glasses only after a video of the interaction appeared online and accumulated hundreds of thousands of views. CBS News also tested the previous recording protection and found that covering the LED after a recording began did not stop the camera — the loophole Meta is now addressing.

The concern illustrates a larger challenge that may become increasingly difficult to avoid.

Cameras have been part of everyday life for decades, but smartphones generally provide visual clues when someone is recording. A person typically has to remove the phone from a pocket, point it toward a subject and hold it in position.

Smart glasses eliminate much of that behavior.

Someone can potentially record exactly what they are looking at while appearing to simply wear an ordinary pair of glasses.

Meta argues that the recording light provides an important signal to people nearby. The company says wearable technology will ultimately need the trust of both the people using it and the people around them.

The company is also launching an education campaign explaining how the recording indicator works and why it is there. Meta has begun using advertising to highlight the LED and plans additional efforts in areas where its glasses have become popular.

The privacy debate is unlikely to disappear with one software update.

People have reportedly attempted more complicated modifications to disable or conceal the recording indicator, prompting Meta to develop additional systems designed to detect physical tampering. The company says damaging or disabling the LED can cause the camera itself to become unavailable.

Some courts, businesses and other venues have also begun restricting smart glasses because of recording concerns. New York recently prohibited smart glasses in state court facilities, illustrating how institutions are beginning to develop rules specifically for wearable cameras.

The debate is likely to grow as other technology companies develop similar products.

For years, people have become accustomed to cameras being nearly everywhere — on phones, doorbells, vehicles, security systems and buildings.

AI glasses introduce something different: a camera that can travel through everyday life directly at eye level.

Meta's latest update makes secretly recording with that camera more difficult.

The larger question may be whether society becomes as comfortable with cameras on people's faces as it eventually became with cameras in their pockets. ■