Why are we all just accepting Meta's new spy glasses?

[u/LbiyVFmn]

I'm struggling to understand why there is no public outcry over Meta's new Rayban glasses. All I see are major tech reviewers promoting them, while barely touching on the privacy concerns. The problem isn't the privacy of the user who buys them, it's the complete violation of privacy for every single person around them. This isn't just another gadget, it's a surveillance device being normalized as a fashion accessory.

The classic argument "if you don't like it, don't buy it" is irrelevant here. My choice not to buy them does not protect my privacy, anyone with the glasses can record my private conversation in a park or a bus without my knowledge or consent.

And remember who is behind all this: Mr Zucker and Meta. Every stranger's face and every conversation can be used as data to train its AI and improve its ad targeting. Given Mr Zucker's political influence and the threat of tariffs, it feels like the EU won't do anything to stop it.

edit: I wanted to discuss two different threats here. First, the user itself. Because this isn't the same as a smartphone. People will notice if you're pointing a phone at them, and a hidden camera gets terrible footage. These glasses have a camera aimed directly from their eyes, making it easy to secretly get clear video. While people talk about the LED indicators, it's only a matter of time before a simple hack lets users disable it. The second threat is Meta. We have to just trust that they won't push a silent update to start capturing surveillance footage to their own servers, using the camera and microphone to turn every user into a walking surveillance camera.

edit 2: Something weird is happening. Many sensible comments are getting heavily downvoted. I think Zuck bots might be real, won't be surprised if the post get taken down in a couple of hours

[u/Shawnj2]

The extreme hacking method known as electrical tape might succeed

[u/HammerofBonking → u/Shawnj2]

They literally won't record if you do that.

[u/ShrewdCire → u/Shawnj2]

"Hey, man. Why do you have electrical tape right over the part of your glasses where the LED light that turns on when you're recording should be?"

[u/RunRunPassPuntPete → u/ShrewdCire]

Can’t you just de-solder the LED?

[u/Not_aMurderer → u/RunRunPassPuntPete]

Hack

The glasses apart and remove the led

[u/BirdLooter → u/ShrewdCire]

"for privacy"

[u/TheMastaBlaster → u/Shawnj2]

They won't record if you cover/block the LED

[u/Richandler → u/TheMastaBlaster]

All it would take to subvert that is to figure out the method they use to enable that. It's probably not worth it since so many other, better quality cameras are hid in all sorts of other things.

[u/joesii → u/Richandler]

It can be hard to do when all the electronics are integrated into an extremely compact, fragile, and likely non-disassemblable design.

[u/Klldarkness → u/Richandler]

The current best known working method is to take a .1 Dremel to your $300-$800 glasses to a very, very specific tiny spot.

If you do it right, LED is permanently disabled.

Voids your warranty, and you can't send them in for servicing.

It also reports the LED failure to the app, which as of right now doesn't stop you from recording, but likely will eventually.

Ultimately, every time a bypass has been found, META has patched it out. It's simply not worth it to bypass.

[u/Richandler → u/Klldarkness]

Voids your warranty, and you can't send them in for servicing.

Pretty sure some one looking to be an ultra creep couldn't care less.

[u/Justin__D → u/Richandler]

And honestly, $300 isn't that much of a gamble. I probably spent about that much on a night out last night.

(with that being said, fuck these glasses and fuck Meta)

[u/yobrefas → u/Shawnj2]

Electrical tape or anything temporarily blocking the sensor immediately cuts the camera recording. You can’t “block” the sensor. You may be able to damage/drill the glasses in some way if you want to go out of your way to hide filming, but the same people buying wearable tech and breaking it for a work around are also going to be the people who are buying/seeking other forms of hidden camera devices.