Meta addresses privacy concerns regarding AI Glasses with features to combat secret filming

Earlier this year, the Irish Examiner highlighted several incidents in Cork City involving a well-known content creator using the glasses to record people without their knowledge

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc., wears a pair of Meta Ray-Ban Display AI glasses during the Meta Connect event in Menlo Park, California, US, on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Meta has announced it will enhance the privacy features of its smart glasses following significant backlash about unauthorised recording.

The tech giant has embarked on a major marketing campaign for the AI product in recent weeks, signing on Kylie Jenner to help drive sales amongst women and reframe their image in the wake of rising controversy.

It had previously worked with French footballer Kylian Mbappé and Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes.

Earlier this year, it was widely reported that men were using to the glasses to secretly film women and upload these videos online, with several incidents in Cork City involving a well-known content creator using the glasses to record people without their knowledge. 

All Meta smart glasses have a light on the front known as a capture LED which blinks white light when content is being recorded. The light does not have an off switch, and blinks briefly for a photo while blinking repeatedly for as long as the glasses are recording. 

However, there have been many incidents in which people attempting to record people without their knowledge have either covered the LED light with tape or removed them entirely.

This has also raised concerns among regulators, with Ireland’s Data Protection Commission and its Italian counterpart questioning how people captured in images or videos are notified that recording is taking place.

Ireland’s data protection watchdog has said it has not been demonstrated that comprehensive field testing was carried out by Meta or Ray-Ban to confirm the LED is an effective form of notice.

In a note this week by Meta, the company said the white light delivered the "best combination of visibility and experience."

"We know that for wearable technology to succeed it must be trusted both by people who wear the glasses and the others around them," it said, adding that it has conducted significant testing to find the right level of brightness so they are visible even during the day and the right frequency of blinking for video.

Meta also announced that beginning with its second generation of glasses, the camera will automatically disable if the glasses detect the capture LED has been blocked. 

Since introducing this, Meta said it has seen people go beyond using tape to "sophisticated efforts to modify or destroy the capture LED". 

"We are continuously improving our ability to detect tampering, and now we’re updating the glasses to disable the camera if they detect the LED was physically tampered with or destroyed," the company added. 

It also said it would work to remove ads, posts, and Marketplace listings that advertise tampering services and will take action, up to banning accounts that do this. 

"We also take legal action against people or businesses that sell services designed for tampering with the capture LED — both on and off our own platforms."