As AI becomes increasingly integrated into everyday life, smart glasses have emerged as one of the newest technologies raising questions about privacy and consent. This week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reportedly banned employees from wearing Meta smart glasses over privacy concerns.
Dubbed “pervert glasses,” Meta glasses are wearable computers, allowing users to take photos and videos, access artificial intelligence, and use other digital features without holding a phone. But unlike a traditional camera, smart glasses can make it difficult for others to know when they are being recorded.
Those concerns have become particularly apparent in incidents involving women. In California, a doctor was caught wearing Meta glasses while examining a female patient who had recently undergone a breast lift. In another incident, a TikToker used Meta glasses to film himself harassing comedian Diane Morgan while she was filming on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her fictional documentary series Cunk on Earth.
Videos recorded with smart glasses have also become increasingly common on social media, including content in which users approach, flirt with, or harass strangers without their knowledge or consent. Instagram promised to crack down and remove these kinds of harmful videos, but no such action has been taken.
The backlash has extended beyond social media. Influencers who publicly post footage recorded with smart glasses have faced criticism and hate comments. When cyclist influencer Oliver Hooson posted a biking video filmed using Meta glasses, he lost dozens of followers and was called a “perv” in his comment section.
Even Meta’s high-profile celebrity partnerships have drawn attention to the controversy. Reality TV star Kylie Jenner recently partnered with Meta to promote a line of smart glasses, prompting criticism from users concerned about the technology’s potential for surveillance.
The British advocacy group Everyone Hates Elon went further, creating fake advertisements with an X-ray skeleton of Jenner with the slogan, “We’re Always Watching.” The same advocacy group also took shots at Meta with an ad that featured a photo of child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein wearing Meta glasses with the text “Glasses for people who don’t do consent.”
Courts and governments are beginning to respond as well. Last month, the New York State Court System banned smart glasses. A month later, England and Wales followed suit and also banned all smart glasses from their courts. In Germany, an advocacy group has also filed a criminal complaint against Meta related to the glasses.
This came after Meta filed a patent application for AI-powered facial recognition software for their smart glasses. The software would automatically capture people’s faces and convert them into biometric data without their consent.
At the same time, smart glasses have meaningful benefits that should not be overlooked. For those who are blind or visually impaired, the glasses help with reading, identifying objects, and accessing information from the internet. When users visit a new country or start a conversation with someone who speaks a different language, the glasses include a live translation feature.
While these features are beneficial to some, the perverts and creeps of the world are ruining it for the rest of us. As AI becomes a larger part of our daily lives, we must find a way to protect the privacy and safety of women and girls.
