Meta goes on a PR blitz and updates privacy settings as venues restrict smart glasses
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- Meta’s smart glasses have a PR problem.
- So the company is trying to calm consumer nerves with a new PR campaign and privacy settings.
- Some event organizers and venues, meanwhile, are restricting Meta’s glasses.
The small camera installed in Meta’s AI smart glasses has become a problem for the company and the public.
Photos and videos captured by Meta glasses have proliferated on social media, and not all of them are consensual. Clips of content creators harassing women and recording their reactions covertly have become a trend, raising concerns about privacy.
“Are you a secret code?” one male content creator asked a woman in an Instagram video. “Because I’m trying to crack you.” Some social media users have dubbed Meta’s product “pervert glasses.”
It’s all a bad look for Meta. So the company is making moves to get ahead of the negativity. It has recently publicized new privacy settings for its glasses and has launched a PR blitz to explain them.
Meta Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth posted an Instagram video on Friday, for example, in which he explained how the smart glasses’ hands-free camera works.
“We designed this camera to be noticed by the people around you, so in every pair of glasses we make, there’s a capture LED on the front, and it lights up when someone’s taking photos or videos for the gallery,” Bosworth said.
Bosworth said the camera has no off switch. It stops working if people try to cover or deactivate it.
“We took this issue all the way across Meta, and we’ve been taking down content and even whole accounts connected to people misusing the glasses,” Bosworth said.
Alex Himel, the vice president of wearables at Meta, also attempted to calm nerves on Friday in a Threads post. He said Meta’s smart glasses will not allow users to record if the camera’s LED light is blocked before or during recording.
“We’re going to keep rolling out updates like this to make sure the capture LED can reliably alert bystanders when photos or videos are being captured for someone’s gallery,” Himel said.
While the company has suspended accounts that use the cameras to harass people, Business Insider’s Katie Notopoulos reported last week that it hasn’t been able to catch them all.
Meta has taken strides to make their smart glasses a must-have accessory. The company has partnered with megastars like Kylie Jenner and Teyana Taylor, and it produced a star-studded Super Bowl LX ad to drum up hype.
As AI smart glasses become increasingly accessible, some event and venue organizers are taking a cautious approach with guests. Burning Man told attendees at the 2026 festival, which starts Monday, that they can bring smart glasses, but must get consent before filming anyone. New York City nightclub Basement updated its no-photo-and-video policy to include smart eyewear.
“Anyone bringing smart glasses into the venue, whether wearing them or carrying them in a bag, will be asked to leave and may be permanently banned,” the venue said in an Instagram post on Friday.
Organizers for the DEFCON Hacking Conference told attendees in July that smart glasses and similar items are prohibited.
In his Instagram video, Bosworth urged users to watch for the LED light that indicates the cameras are recording.
“Please remember,” he added, “the light is there for everyone.”