Privacy Risks of AI Wearables and Smart Rings

AI-powered wearables are everywhere in 2026. Smart rings track your sleep, heart rate, and body temperature around the clock. AI glasses record video, identify objects, and respond to voice commands. Fitness bands monitor stress levels and predict illness. These devices promise unprecedented health insights — but they also collect some of the most intimate data imaginable. Here is what you need to know about the privacy risks of AI wearables and how to protect yourself.

The AI Wearables Boom

The wearable AI market has exploded over the past two years. Devices like the Oura Ring 4, Samsung Galaxy Ring, Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, and a growing number of AI-powered health bands have moved from niche gadgets to mainstream consumer products. Samsung and Google announced Gemini-powered smart glasses launching in fall 2026, and Meta continues to expand the capabilities of its Ray-Ban partnership.

What makes these devices different from earlier wearables is the AI layer. Instead of simply counting steps, modern wearables use machine learning to analyze your biometric data, predict health trends, detect anomalies, and offer personalized recommendations. That AI processing requires data — lots of it — and where that data goes is the core privacy question.

What Data Do AI Wearables Collect?

The range of data collected by modern AI wearables is remarkably broad:

• Biometric data: Heart rate, heart rate variability, blood oxygen levels, skin temperature, respiratory rate, and in some devices, blood pressure estimates
• Sleep data: Sleep duration, sleep stages (light, deep, REM), sleep latency, nighttime movement, and snoring detection
• Activity data: Steps, calories burned, exercise type and duration, workout intensity, and recovery metrics
• Location data: GPS tracking during workouts, and in some cases, continuous location logging
• Audio and video: Smart glasses like the Ray-Ban Meta capture photos, video, and audio — including conversations with bystanders who did not consent to being recorded
• Voice data: AI assistants in wearables process voice commands, and recordings are often stored in the cloud
• Behavioral patterns: Over time, AI models build detailed profiles of your daily routines, stress levels, menstrual cycles, alcohol consumption effects, and more

Privacy Risks by Device Type

Smart Rings: Oura, Samsung Galaxy Ring, and Others

Smart rings are among the most privacy-sensitive wearables because they are worn 24/7 and collect continuous biometric data. The Oura Ring has faced scrutiny after announcing a partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense in August 2025, making the DoD its largest business client. While Oura's CEO clarified that government agencies cannot access individual user data, the partnership raised concerns about how closely health wearable companies work with government entities.

On the positive side, Oura has introduced Private AI, which moves sleep-stage and readiness calculations to your smartphone's neural engine rather than processing them in the cloud. Samsung's Galaxy Ring offers a toggle to keep Galaxy AI calculations local and uses its Knox Vault for encryption. However, cloud backups in the Samsung Health app remain active by default unless manually disabled.

A 2025 study found that 76% of wearable manufacturers were rated "High Risk" for transparency in data sharing. Many smart ring makers do not offer clear opt-out mechanisms for biometric data used to train their AI models.

AI Smart Glasses: Ray-Ban Meta and Beyond

Smart glasses present unique privacy risks because they affect not just the wearer but everyone around them. The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses have been at the center of multiple privacy controversies:

• Class-action lawsuit (March 2026): Meta is defending a lawsuit alleging that footage from Ray-Ban glasses was reviewed by contractors in Kenya — including recordings of users in private situations — without adequate disclosure.
• Campus safety concerns: In October 2025, the University of San Francisco issued a warning after reports of a man wearing Ray-Ban Meta glasses approaching and recording women on campus without consent.
• Voice data retention: Voice recordings triggered by the wake word are stored in the cloud by default and can be kept for up to a year to improve AI systems. There is no way to opt out beyond manually deleting recordings.
• Facial recognition fears: Meta is developing a feature called Name Tag that could use the glasses' camera to identify people using data from Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, and WhatsApp. While it has not launched, the concept has alarmed privacy advocates.

The UK Information Commissioner's Office and Kenya's Office of the Data Protection Commissioner have both opened formal investigations into Meta's smart glasses practices. Meanwhile, Samsung and Google announced competing Gemini-powered smart glasses for fall 2026 — notably without disclosing a data policy at the time of announcement.

AI Health Bands and Fitness Trackers

AI-powered fitness bands increasingly use cloud-based machine learning to process your health data. Many transmit raw biometric data to company servers for analysis, creating centralized databases of deeply personal health information. If these databases are breached, the consequences are severe — unlike a password, you cannot change your heart rate variability pattern or sleep architecture.

How to Protect Your Privacy With AI Wearables

1. Review Privacy Policies Before You Buy

Before purchasing any wearable, read the manufacturer's privacy policy carefully. Look for answers to these questions: Where is your data stored? Is it encrypted end-to-end? Can the company share it with third parties? Can they use it to train AI models? What happens to your data if you delete your account or the company shuts down?

2. Enable On-Device Processing

Choose devices that offer on-device AI processing whenever possible. Oura's Private AI and Samsung's local Galaxy AI toggle keep your biometric data on your phone rather than sending it to company servers. On-device processing is always more private than cloud processing.

3. Disable Cloud Sync for Sensitive Data

If your wearable offers the option to disable cloud syncing of health data, consider using it. You may lose some features like cross-device access, but you gain meaningful privacy protection. For Samsung Galaxy Ring users, manually toggle off Health app sync in Samsung Cloud settings.

4. Limit Permissions

Review the permissions your wearable's companion app requests on your phone. Many request access to contacts, location, microphone, and other data that is not necessary for core functionality. Deny permissions that are not essential.

5. Be Mindful of Bystander Privacy

If you wear smart glasses, be aware that you are collecting data about everyone around you. Many people are uncomfortable being recorded without their knowledge. Consider the ethical implications and follow local laws regarding recording in public and private spaces.

6. Regularly Delete Stored Data

Periodically delete old health data, voice recordings, and photos or video captured by your wearable. The less historical data a company holds, the less damage a breach or policy change can cause.

7. Remove Your Data From Brokers

Wearable data does not exist in isolation. Data brokers combine information from many sources — including health apps, location data, and online behavior — to build detailed profiles. PrivacyOn removes your personal information from 100+ data broker and people-search sites, reducing the ability of third parties to connect your wearable data with your real identity. When your name, address, and contact details are not readily available on broker sites, the health and biometric data from your wearables becomes much harder to link back to you.

The Bottom Line

AI wearables offer genuine health benefits, but the privacy trade-offs are significant and often hidden behind default settings that prioritize data collection. The data these devices gather — your heart rhythms, sleep patterns, location history, conversations, and daily routines — is among the most personal information that exists.

Be intentional about which devices you use, what data you allow them to collect, and where that data is stored. Combine smart device settings with broader privacy protection from a service like PrivacyOn, which handles the data broker side of the equation by keeping your personal information off the open internet. Your biometric data deserves at least as much protection as your passwords.