Worried that someone wearing Meta’s snooping spyware goggles could be creeping up on you? Android users now have access to an app that can warn them if someone is wearing such smart glasses in their vicinity by using Bluetooth.
Last week, Yves Jeanrenaud, a deputy professor at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences in Germany, published Nearby Glasses, an Android app that scans Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) advertising data for manufacturer identifiers associated with certain smart glasses, including Ray-Ban Meta AI Glasses.
“This app notifies you when smart glasses are nearby,” Jeanrenaud explained in the project’s GitHub repo. “It uses company [identifiers] in the Bluetooth data sent out by these [devices].”
In a LinkedIn post on Tuesday, he elaborated on how the software works.
“Bluetooth devices broadcast small advertising packets,” he wrote. “Even though MAC addresses (identifying a particular device) and service UUIDs (identifying what they are doing) are randomized, manufacturer company IDs in BLE advertising frames are mandatory and immutable.”
The app, he said, scans for manufacturer identifiers in the BLE ADV frames.
Jeanrenaud warned that there may be false positives from other Bluetooth hardware by the same manufacturer (e.g. Meta VR headsets).
“Hence, please proceed with caution when approaching a person nearby wearing glasses,” he said. “They might just be regular glasses, despite this app’s warning.”
The repo comes with a prominent warning telling app users not to harass anyone based on suspicion of covert surveillance arising from the app’s output.
There have already been reported incidents of altercations arising from unwelcome surveillance, even without the app.
In December, a woman on the New York subway is said to have smashed the Meta AI glasses worn by “a TikToker.” The incident went viral, which suggests the persistence of the widespread social discomfort with non-consensual recording that surfaced more than a decade ago when Google released network-connected eyewear known as Google Glass. There’s also the possibility that the incident was staged, because that’s the world we live in.
But there have been other troubling reports about so-called “manfluencers” using smart glasses to surreptitiously record their attempts to pick up women, encounters they then post to social media sites “to create misogynistic content online.”
Asked to comment, a Meta spokesperson said, “Unlike smartphones, our glasses have an LED light that activates whenever someone captures content, so it’s clear the device is recording. Our terms of service clearly state that users are responsible for complying with all applicable laws and for using Ray-Ban Meta glasses in a safe, respectful manner. And as with any recording device, people shouldn’t use them for engaging in harmful activities like harassment, infringing on privacy rights, or capturing sensitive information.”
Jeanrenaud, in his post, observed that the LED on smart glasses can be easily disabled – there are YouTube videos that show how. And he added that many people do not recognize smart glasses as recording devices at all.
It’s generally legal to record video in public. But that doesn’t preclude the possibility of legal risks (or unlawful device seizure by authorities), particularly when audio recording captures specific conversations or facial recognition technology is involved, or when recording plausibly constitutes unlawful behavior like harassment or stalking.
“Increasingly, smart glasses collect biometric data, and that’s when they become problematic,” Purdue Global Law School said in a post last week. “Facial recognition, voiceprint recording, and other features can implicate a range of privacy laws.”
Purdue Global Law School also cites the possibility of running afoul of state wiretapping laws, noting that 11 states require consent from both parties for audio recording.
Last week, a California judge criticized members of Mark Zuckerberg’s team for wearing Ray-Ban Meta AI Glasses in court, contrary to court rules. Zuckerberg was there to testify in a social media addiction trial based on allegations that Meta and YouTube designed their services to be addictive to young people.
Pointing out other abuses associated with Meta’s AI glasses, and Meta’s reported plan to add facial recognition to its glasses, Jeanrenaud said, “This is not a perfect solution, but I hope it’s useful for someone. Until consent and privacy are treated seriously in wearable tech, I hope this tool helps someone feel a little more safe.” ®