Meta has filed and won a patent for a hardware privacy mute circuit, a physical switch that cuts power to the camera sensor on its smart glasses. Filed earlier this year, the patent was granted last week. The filing never names a product, though its drawings are plainly modeled on the Ray-Ban frames Meta sells today.

This is a physical kill switch rather than another software toggle. Because it severs power at the sensor, it cannot be hacked the way software controls can. Meta describes the concept as tamper-resistant privacy controls that cannot be compromised.

The patent arrives as Meta works to close the loopholes in its current LED warning. Right now the only sign of recording is a small light, and wearers have found ways around it, covering the LED with a sticker, or starting a clip and then blocking the light mid-recording. Meta just pushed a software update that stops recording the moment the LED gets covered, but that fix is still software, and people may find a workaround for it.

Only a hardware-level cutout would give bystanders genuine protection. The caveat: it’s a patent, not a shipping product, so the glasses in stores remain only as trustworthy as the people wearing them.

Source: Digital Trends