Kenya joins UK, US in probing controversial Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses
The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) has commenced suo moto investigations into Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses following petitions from over 150 organisations.
Kenya has officially started an investigation into the controversial Ray-Ban Meta AI Glasses, following complaints raised by digital rights groups and members of the public regarding potential use of the glasses for mass surveillance and non-consensual recording of intimate images and videos.
In a letter dated March 31, the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) said that over 150 organisations and individuals signed on a letter of support asking it to not only investigate the human rights concerns raised by the Ray-Ban Meta glasses concerns but also to ensure that the investigation was done in a transparent and open manner.
This means that Kenya will be joining other countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States where the company is facing lawsuit over the data privacy.
“The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner confirms that it has already commenced suo moto investigations into the privacy concerns raised in relation to the Ray-Ban Meta glasses and the processing of personally identifiable information for the training of Meta AI. The outcome and further developments will be communicated once the investigations are concluded,” part of the letter by Data Commissioner Immaculate Kassait reads.
On March 6, digital rights group The Oversight Lab wrote to the Data Commissioner seeking its urgent consideration into the mass surveillance capabilities of Ray-Ban Meta glasses and their use for non-consensual recording of intimate images and videos.
The lobby group had also requested the ODPC to investigate the unlawful processing of data to train Meta AI in the country.
“It is notable that the ODPC is taking this issue seriously and has decided to investigate it. We ask that the investigation be done openly, consultatively and in full transparency, noting that Kenyans are now more than ever keen on being involved in regulatory processes dictating their digital future. We are looking forward to a formal invitation for concerned stakeholders to share their views on the matter, given that this is a matter of grave public importance,” The Oversight Lab Executive Director Mercy Mutemi said in the letter to ODPC.
Ms Mutemi said that the use of the AI powered glasses in the country raises concern over the exploitation of vulnerable communities.
“Just as we saw in the Worldcoin case, Kenya is once again being used as a training ground for exploitative and harmful AI. We are especially concerned for the welfare of the data labellers and annotators who are exposed to traumatising content from the Ray-Ban Meta glasses without adequate occupational health protections.”
The probe also comes after a Russian man secretly recorded and published interactions with Kenyan and Ghanain women without their consent.
The Meta glasses privacy violations were revealed in a report by some of the Journalists who highlighted how footages collected across the world via the wearable glasses ended up in Nairobi, Samasource Kenya EPZ limited, where Kenyan workers were tasked with reviewing and labeling the data.
In the UK, the watchdog wrote to Meta expressing its concern over the use of the glasses by the outsourced workers to vie sensitive content.
This comes amid the ongoing lawsuit where Tech workers under the Africa Tech Workers Movement have protested over the Kenyan government’s complicity in the exploitation of workers by AI companies.
In a separate case filed by The Oversight Lab and the Africa Tech Workers Movement challenges proposed amendments to the Employment Act providing immunity to tech companies like Meta for violation of the rights of workers.
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