A Kenyan digital rights organisation, The Oversight Labs, has asked the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner to investigate whether footage captured by Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses is being used unlawfully to train artificial intelligence systems. The request follows reports that images and videos recorded by the glasses are reviewed by contract workers in Nairobi to help train AI tools developed by Meta Platforms.
In a formal complaint submitted to the regulator, the group asked authorities to determine whether people recorded by the smart glasses had given consent for their images and conversations to be used in training AI models. It also questioned whether the data processing complies with Kenya’s Data Protection Act and whether the devices could allow covert recording of individuals in public or private spaces without their knowledge.
The complaint follows an investigation by Swedish newspapers Göteborgs-Posten and Svenska Dagbladet, which reported that Kenyan workers employed by outsourcing company Sama review footage collected from the glasses. According to the report, the workers classify scenes, objects and behaviour in the recordings so that Meta’s artificial intelligence systems can better recognise activities and environments.
Executive Director of the group, Mercy Mutemi, said the practice raises serious privacy and ethical concerns, especially if individuals captured in the footage were unaware their data could be processed abroad. The group has asked the data protection authority to complete its investigation within 90 days, a development that could bring renewed scrutiny to Kenya’s growing role as a hub for global AI data labelling work.