Meta Faces False Ad Suit Over AI Glasses Privacy Promise

Meta Platforms Inc. advertised Meta AI glasses as “designed for privacy” despite failing to inform consumers that sensitive personal footage would be labeled by overseas workers, a proposed consumer class suit claims.

Consumers “did not, and could not reasonably, understand that their bedrooms, bathrooms, families, bodies, and more would be exposed to strangers around the world,” the complaint said. The lawsuit, which also named eyewear maker Luxottica of America Inc. as a defendant, was filed Wednesday in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

No reasonable consumer would understand the slogan “designed for privacy, controlled by you” or promises like “built for your privacy” to mean “deeply personal footage from inside their homes would be viewed and catalogued by human workers overseas,” the complaint said. “Meta chose to make privacy the centerpiece of its pervasive marketing campaign while concealing facts that reveal those promises to be false.”

The videos—which can contain financial information, sexual activity, and other private content—are transmitted to Meta servers and then routed to a subcontractor in Kenya where human workers view and label the footage to train Meta AI models, the plaintiffs allege.

The complaint noted the general public “is increasingly concerned about who is watching, what is being captured, and how that information will be used,” and said Meta framed its marketing campaign around privacy promises.

A Meta spokesperson said that unless “users choose to share media they’ve captured with Meta or others, that media stays on the user’s device.”

The spokesperson added that the company sometimes uses contractors to review content shared with Meta AI to improve people’s experience, “as many other companies do,” and takes steps to prevent identifying information from being reviewed.

The plaintiffs seek to represent nationwide, California, and New Jersey consumer classes. They bring claims under the California and New Jersey consumer laws, as well as claims of fraud, misrepresentation, breach of contract, breach of warranty, and unjust enrichment.

The consumers are seeking damages and an injunction requiring Meta to change its business practices and undertake an affirmative advertising campaign dispelling consumers of the alleged misrepresentations.

Luxottica didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The consumers are represented by Clarkson Law Firm.

The case is Bartone v. Meta Platforms Inc., N.D. Cal., No. 3:26-cv-01897, complaint filed 3/4/26.