Smart glasses equipped with cameras and AI are raising serious privacy concerns, particularly for women. Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, has released AI-powered smart glasses that can record video and identify faces. While Meta claims the glasses have safety features like a flashing LED light to indicate recording, women have reported being recorded without their consent, with videos posted online or used for extortion. One woman told the BBC a man demanded money to remove videos of her from social media; another described being recorded during sexual encounters without her knowledge.
Meta's Safety Measures Under Scrutiny
Meta insists that its glasses have a tamper-proof LED light that activates during recording. However, CNN reported that none of the women they interviewed saw a flashing light during their interactions. Meta's safety guidelines prohibit using the glasses for harassment or infringing privacy, but critics argue such warnings are ineffective. Social media creators are even teaching others how to bypass the LED safeguard, despite Meta's updates to prevent tampering.
Surveillance Technology Goes Mainstream
The potential for abuse extends beyond individual harassment. According to a Wired analysis, Meta quietly embedded a face-recognition feature called "NameTag" in its AI app for the glasses. This feature can identify people captured by the camera and encode their faces into biometric data. Privacy advocates warn that this technology could be exploited by stalkers or governments. Tayo Bero, a Guardian US columnist, writes: "The potential applications of this kind of surveillance technology are spine-chilling."
Celebrity Endorsements Normalize Creepy Tech
Despite these concerns, Meta is recruiting celebrities like Kylie Jenner to promote the smart glasses. Bero criticizes this trend, noting that as influencers and celebrities endorse the devices, the public becomes desensitized to their risks. "The more these systems are developed, used by influencers and propped up by celebrities, the less we view them as aberrant," she writes. The columnist concludes that while individuals can take steps to protect their privacy, such as covering webcams, broader societal safeguards are needed to prevent non-consensual recording and biometric tracking.
