Meta has ended its outsourcing contract with Kenyan firm Sama on April 30, 2026, leaving over 1,100 workers jobless. The move follows February reports and a March class-action lawsuit alleging privacy breaches from Sama workers reviewing sensitive footage from Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses. Sama disputes the claims, while Kenya's data watchdog investigates.
In a continuation of the privacy controversy surrounding Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses, the company's outsourcing contract with Nairobi-based Sama expired on April 30, 2026, resulting in more than 1,100 Kenyan workers losing their jobs. Meta cited Sama's failure to meet operational standards, a decision announced earlier in April.
The termination stems from a February 2026 Swedish media report and subsequent U.S. class-action lawsuit, which revealed Sama employees annotated disturbing user footage—including intimate moments and bathroom scenes—captured by the AI-powered glasses without adequate consent safeguards.
Sama strongly refutes Meta's claims, asserting full compliance with security, quality, and operational standards, and noting no prior formal notification of issues. Labor advocates, such as the Africa Tech Workers Movement, argue the cutoff aims to suppress criticism of human labor in AI training.
Kenya's Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) has initiated an investigation into potential privacy violations tied to the smart glasses data handling. Meta emphasizes its commitment to user privacy, stating that any content reviews occur with consent to enhance product features.
