“Meta wants its smart glasses to be a big hit,” writes the Los Angeles TimesBut when some people discovered ways to disable the light that warns people that they are being filmed, the high-tech specs seem to have turned into a disadvantage, as some are calling the gadget “pervert’s glasses…”.
Some are using the glasses – which look like a pair of regular glasses – to record people without them knowing and posting the videos on social media. Many users are secretly filming and sharing what’s going on. Of course, there are more and more people who are concerned that they could be secretly recorded at the gym or anywhere else. The backlash has prompted Meta to update its glasses to address privacy concerns, and some places have banned them, adding to the anxiety surrounding the rapidly evolving technology…
Concerns about the glasses have been mounting as more and more videos of people unaware they are being recorded go viral on social media. On Instagram, some videos depict people being approached in shopping malls, on college campuses and on sidewalks. While the videos are presented as jokes, the people being filmed do not appear to be aware they are being recorded and sometimes appear uncomfortable, telling strangers to leave them alone or stop harassing them. The outcry has spread beyond social media, with comedian Jimmy Kimmel calling Meta’s devices “perverted glasses” on national television and singer Lorde telling concertgoers that the smart glasses “are not sexy…”
Instagram, which is owned by Meta, has disabled accounts and removed some of those videos for violating the platform’s rules against harassment and bullying… Businesses are making their own decisions about smart glasses. 5 Point Cafe in Seattle, which had previously banned Google Glass, has also banned Meta glasses from its restaurant and bar. “Leave the Meta-SpyBan Display at home. We serve privacy, not surveillance,” reads a 2025 Instagram post from the business.
An Android app that warns people if they are being recorded has had about 110.000 downloads in the past six months, according to the article. The app’s creator says it’s a “social problem” that “we don’t value privacy, and that we think we have the right to use others for our entertainment or for our private gain, and this technology reinforces that.”
The American Civil Liberties Union and more than 70 organizations sent a letter urging Meta to promise to leave facial recognition features out of its smart glasses, according to the article. But a Meta spokesperson said “no final decision has been made.”
Although the press releases will range from very select to rare, I said I'd pass...because sometimes the editors hide.
