Kenya’s Office of the Data Protection Commissioner signaled privacy scrutiny after workers reported that Meta smart glasses captured graphic content, prompting contract termination and allegations of job losses tied to speaking out. Meta canceled a contract with Sama, with Sama saying the redundancies affected 1,108 workers after Meta’s quality review. Meta told BBC News it ended the work because Sama “doesn’t meet our standards,” while Sama defended its compliance and said it was not notified of failures. The broader controversy follows a published investigation describing human review of Meta AI-related footage from smart glasses, including claims that content review could include sensitive images. While this story is not a university-only case, it has direct implications for higher education institutions adopting AI tools that may rely on user-captured data streams. The dispute highlights how privacy assurance, consent management, and data governance are likely to become procurement requirements. Cybersecurity leaders in academia may need to strengthen third-party vendor monitoring and ensure that AI systems used for accessibility or learning do not create unanticipated privacy exposure risks.