Meta's 'Pervert Glasses' Under Scrutiny Amid Privacy Fears: Report

MENLO PARK, CA — Meta’s high-tech smart glasses — which can take photos and videos, play music, facilitate calls and provide AI assistance — have another name to some: “pervert glasses,” the Los Angeles Times recently reported.

Some users wear the glasses to record people without their knowledge, then post the videos on social media, sparking fears that the devices could also be used to secretly capture people at the gym or during sex, according to the newspaper.

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel called the devices “pervert glasses” on national television, the Times reported, noting the glasses have a flashing white light that alerts people that a device is recording, but that some users have hidden or disabled the light, hiring people to drill into the glasses.

Meta recently updated the devices’ software so cameras subject to tampering are disabled, according to the newspaper, which added a spokesperson for the Menlo Park-based company said people use the glasses because they’re “genuinely helpful.”

Meta’s smart glasses — which dominate the market — range from about $224 to $800, the Times reported, adding the company has partnered on the devices with Ray-Ban and Oakley as well as Kylie Jenner and Jennie from Blackpink.

The American Civil Liberties Union and over 70 organizations earlier this year sent Meta a letter urging the company not to release facial recognition features in the glasses and elsewhere, according to the newspaper, which added that a Meta spokesperson said “no final decision has been made.”

An app to alert people about smart glasses nearby was released in February and has about 110,000 Android downloads, the Times reported.

Read more from the Times.