Can you tell when someone nearby is wearing Meta AI glasses?
As millions of people buy into the smart glasses fad each year, the odds are increasing that you could be secretly recorded while simply going about your day.
Meta is not the only smart glasses maker, but its AI glasses are by far the most popular. And as the devices become more common, some public places, including schools, courts, restaurants, and entertainment venues, have begun to ban them. Even tech lovers have rejected Meta glasses in certain settings. The hackers behind DEF CON 2026 reportedly banned smart glasses with no exceptions, reminding attendees with prescription pairs to “be sure to pack non-violating eyewear if you need them.”
But a ban is only as effective as the people enforcing it. Spotting a pair of smart glasses can require tech-savvy security staff, and enforcement may depend on users voluntarily disclosing their devices—or on watchful observers speaking up.
Those bans are an important way to push back against the potential for abuse. But privacy advocates know that increasing the social friction around nonconsensual recording can’t stop the practice by itself.
Until comprehensive consumer privacy laws are passed, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has warned that Meta seems prepared to make the tech even more invasive in its bid to sell more glasses and stay ahead of rivals in the burgeoning industry.
And as AI advances, EFF staff technologist Cooper Quintin told Ars, potential new features such as facial recognition could raise the stakes further, potentially allowing the devices to be used to create convincing deepfakes or nonconsensual intimate imagery of people who may not be aware that cameras are rolling.