Meta smart glasses pose a threat to women, campaigners say

Smart glasses such as Meta’s Ray-Bans that enable users to record video in public are a “real threat to women’s everyday lives”, an expert has said.

The devices are becoming increasingly popular and millions have been sold worldwide, however there are concerns about the covert filming of women without their consent.

Last month Lauren Britt, 28, from Florida, shared a video of herself that had been secretly recorded by a man who approached her at Tampa airport and posted it on Instagram. “No idea he recorded this whole conversation with his glasses. Is that just creepy? He never asked,” she said.

The Ray-Ban Meta glasses enable recording through a camera in the frame, which has a warning light to show when video is running. However there are dozens of videos on YouTube describing how to disable the light and accessories are sold to block it.

A cruise company, MSC Cruises, has banned the devices from common areas because of privacy issues. “Devices capable of covertly or discreetly recording or transmitting data (e.g. smart glasses) are not allowed in ships’ public areas,” its policy stated.

In October the University of San Francisco issued a campus alert after a man wearing Ray-Ban Meta glasses was approaching women on campus “with unwanted comments and inappropriate dating questions” and uploading the video on social media.

In the UK, one TikToker shared videos of himself approaching young women on the street to ask for their numbers. It is not clear whether they realised he was recording, but in one post a woman identifies his smart glasses and a caption on the video said: “She clocked the Meta glasses.”

Clare McGlynn, a professor of law at Durham University and an expert on violence against women, said: “For women, these are not smart glasses, but a real threat to our everyday lives. Most women won’t see smart glasses as exciting new technology, but as more new tech to be used to violate us and disrupt our everyday lives.

“Women already live with the constant risk of being filmed without our consent, whether during private, sexual activity, or in public spaces. It is already far too common, and smart glasses are only going to make the opportunities for harassment and abuse far greater.”

McGlynn said her biggest concern was that the glasses would be altered to create “nudification”, where a user could generate nude images of women and girls in front of them without their consent. “There’s very little that we will be able to do about it,” she said.

Privacy fears plagued smart glasses the first time they emerged with the launch of Google Glass in 2013, prompting their users to be called “Glassholes”. The product was withdrawn in 2015.

However since then the rise of smartphones has made people more accustomed to filming in public. Google is relaunching smart glasses this year and Snap is bringing out a device. Secretly recording someone in public and then uploading the video on social media could be a breach of UK data laws.

Lilian Edwards, a professor of law, innovation and society at Newcastle University, said the person filming should have the consent of the subject or a lawful basis for processing their data. Edwards added that it was a question of how “endemic” the technology becomes. “To some extent, it moves stalking and harassment more easily from online to the real world, which is always the problem with wearables,” she said.

In 2024 two Harvard students installed face recognition software on the Meta glasses and identified strangers as they passed in the street. Other recent incidents include a woman breaking a man’s Meta glasses on the New York subway after she believed he was filming her and a video of a woman who expressed her unease when the beautician giving her a wax was wearing the device.

Meta 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.

“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.”