Recently, a TikTok video went semi-viral as an influencer posted that she had a jarring experience when she went to a spa for a Brazilian Wax at European Wax Center in Manhattan, New York. During the appointment, she noticed that the aesthetician was wearing Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.
According to the woman, the beautician said that the glasses weren’t charged and were prescription. Still, the experience rattled her and prompted a debate about privacy and what expectations people have as they move about the world.
The questions surrounding smart glasses and privacy aren’t a new concern. When Google Glass launched more than a decade ago, there were near-immediate concerns about privacy with worries that people were being surreptitiously recorded by the first smart glasses.
However, Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses are less obvious than the more sci-fi-looking Google Glass and are purposefully designed to be more fashionable and unobtrusive.
What can you expect when it comes to privacy and recording?
Comments on TikTok and quotes elsewhere reveal that many people don't know that Meta’s glasses can record video. The glasses do have an LED light that turns on to indicate if the camera is recording, but it can easily be bypassed.
This isn’t the first time this specific spa center has been accused of being shady with cameras. We found Reddit posts from five years ago complaining about aestheticians using iPads with cameras while providing services. So it’s not just smart glasses that can be problematic.
Meta and privacy
Meta is no stranger to privacy concerns either. The company behind Facebook has long been accused of skirting the rules when it comes to privacy. In 2023, the company was forced to pay a $1.3 billion fine in the EU for past data collection.
This year alone, Meta has been hit with multiple claims about how its AI is revealing personal info, accessing your camera roll without permission, tracking Android users outside of Meta products, and new Ray-Ban features that could be used to train AI.
The company is currently facing a class action lawsuit over claims that it tracked and gathered private health information without consent via its Pixel tracking tool. Reuters reports that Meta lawyers are trying to prevent CEO Mark Zuckerberg from testifying in the case.
In April, The Verge reported that Meta was changing its privacy policy, including a notice that the camera on its smart glasses is always enabled unless you turn off “Hey Meta” voice controls. Additionally, the company noted that voice transcripts and audio recordings are stored for up to a year.
It remains clear that Meta is looking for data to train its AI models on—the problem is that people don’t always want to provide that data, especially if it’s something they’d rather keep private, but it’s getting harder to know when and where you’re being monitored.
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