When Meta launched its increasingly popular smart glasses, it gave them one small line of defense against becoming full-on spy glasses: the “capture LED,” Meta’s terminology for the LED that lights up when you’re capturing pictures or videos.
It was a small gesture, but an important one, and in theory, it could prevent other people from being recorded discreetly or at least do bystanders the small service of tipping them off. The problems with the capture LED are still numerous, but one major issue has been the the fact that it’s easily subverted.
Until recently, users were able to sidestep the capture LED with full-on DIY drill-outs that removed the light entirely, though Meta has since tamped down on those workarounds. The company has also reportedly closed another loophole on the list, and this one seems like a no-brainer.
Meta says that, thanks to a firmware update, people who are recording video or taking pictures using its smart glasses can no longer obscure the capture LED after they’ve begun recording. For context, the capture LED prevents people from recording when the sensor recognizes it’s been blocked, but until now that safeguard only worked the way it was supposed to if you tried to obscure the light before recording. Place your hand over the sensor and press record and you’ll receive a notification that the capture LED is blocked and recording can’t initiate.
It’s a small and obvious improvement, but at least Meta seems to be making some effort. Whether the capture LED is even sufficient to prevent creeps from being creepy is another question entirely, though. Lots of people may not even notice the capture LED, even if it isn’t tampered with—that’s if they even know to look for a light in the first place, or know what that light means.
Plus, as recently as last month, people were still able to obscure the capture LED with a simple sticker, which is… not good. Meta is certainly trying to close loopholes here, but whether smart glasses can truly mitigate the inherent creepiness of wearing cameras on your face is still one very big TBD.
