The “next-generation Ray Ban Meta smart glasses” secretly captured hundreds of photos of individuals in parks, on trains, and hiking trails, without their knowledge. These covertly taken photos are sparking significant privacy concerns.
The photos were taken as part of an experiment conducted by Brian Chen, a consumer technology reporter for The New York Times.
In the experiment, Chen explored how the new glasses are raising privacy concerns, especially now that they are integrated with livestream and artificial intelligence technology.
“Starting in the U.S., you’re going to get this state-of-the-art AI that you can interact with hands-free wherever you go,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said when he unveiled the new glasses.
Zuckerberg also posted a video to Instagram showing how the smart glasses can help translate signs and pick out a pair of pants to match an outfit.
However, Chen also emphasized other uses of the glasses that are raising concern.
By the end of the experiment, Chen said he was “relieved to remove the glasses” because he “felt bothered by the implications of our privacy.”
A Meta spokesperson said privacy was “top of the mind” when designing the glasses.
The glasses feature a small LED light that shines from the right frame to indicate that the glasses are recording. When the glasses take a photo, a flash goes off as well. There is also “tamper-detection technology” to prevent a user from covering the LED light with tape.
“As I shot 200 photos and videos with the glasses in public, no one looked at the LED light or confronted me about it,” Chen wrote. “And why would they? It would be rude to comment on a stranger’s glasses, let alone stare at them.”
Meta’s collaboration with Ray-Ban is just one example of tech giants tapping into new products that shift what consumers do with their devices. Recent changes shifted technology to a more personal experience, now often interactive with the help of AI.
According to Chen, someone could unknowingly be part of that experience too, if they fail to see the LED light shining from the rim of a stranger’s glasses.
“Sleek, lightweight and satisfyingly hip, the Meta glasses blend effortlessly into the quotidian,” Chen wrote. “No one — not even my editor, who was aware I was writing this column — could tell them apart from ordinary glasses, and everyone was blissfully unaware of being photographed.”
