Meta has begun rolling out a mandatory update for all Ray-Ban Meta and new Meta smart glasses that physically disables the camera if the privacy LED is covered, damaged, or otherwise tampered with. The change closes a loophole that persisted since the second-generation glasses launched: previously, covering the recording light only triggered an on-screen prompt asking the user to uncover it, which owners bypassed by drilling into the frame or using hardware mods.

The new firmware detects interference with the indicator light and kills camera functionality entirely. Meta says it is also scrubbing its platforms of ads and posts that promote tampering services and will take enforcement action against accounts linked to those services. The move follows months of public backlash over surreptitious recording and criticism that the company ignored the vulnerability for too long.

For consumers, the update restores a baseline of trust: the glowing LED is now a hard guarantee that the camera is inactive when dark. For the wearable category, it sets a precedent that privacy indicators must be enforced at the hardware level, not left to software prompts that can be circumvented.