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In the UK, Meta’s AI smart glasses have been banned in courts, restaurants, and pubs, largely due to privacy concerns and reports of wearers secretly filming others without their knowledge. What might it mean for the tech’s future?
As of last week, Meta’s AI smart glasses have been banned in courts, restaurants, and some pubs, at least in the UK.
It follows a turbulent year for Zuckerberg’s latest tech venture. New York approved a similar ban on smart glasses in court buildings just last month, while a row erupted in April over Kenyan workers viewing explicit content recorded on smart glasses to train Meta’s AI models. The fallout between Meta and Sama, the firm responsible for examining the video content, raised fresh questions about consumer privacy and workers’ rights.
Meta’s wearable, AI-powered glasses offer a variety of features, including built-in speakers, real-time translation tools, and the ability to make and take phone calls on the go.
By far the most talked-about additions, however, are two cameras that sit on either side of each lens. These allow the wearer to seamlessly take HD pictures and record video without touching a phone. The only indication that the cameras are in use is a small, red flashing light.
While tech bros have been praising and pedalling the new tech, there has been a sizable public backlash that appears to be growing, with privacy being a major concern.
Content creators – male ‘pickup artists’ especially – are filming people without their knowledge and uploading footage to social media channels, TikTok and Instagram in particular. These interactions are deliberately provocative and secretive, used for engagement and clicks and putting women on public blast without consent.
As mentioned, only a small flashing light tells others when a video is being recorded on Meta’s glasses. Countless tutorials and products are available online to cover this up entirely, however, making it nearly impossible for anyone other than the wearer to know when the cameras are in use.
Meta has published its own guidelines on how to use its glasses respectfully, of course, but this does little to curb consumer behaviours in any meaningful way.
It also probably doesn’t help that Meta has a long, troubled history with privacy and data handling. There is very little consumer confidence in Zuckerberg and his ability to safeguard consumers given his track record, and as The Independent points out, he famously described early Facebook users as ‘dumb f**ks’ for giving him access to their data. Fun stuff.
