Britain's poshest clubs and cheapest pubs agree on one thing – ban Meta's “pervert glasses"
It's just common sense, proprietors say
'Pervert glasses' not allowed in British boozers. Photo by Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images
- Hospitality unites against Meta glasses From cheap pubs to posh clubs, UK venues are banning the £359 specs over covert filming and privacy fears.
- Wetherspoons calls it common sense Tim Martin says the glasses breach existing no-filming rules by enabling "surreptitious surveillance."
- Elite venues agree Restaurateur Jeremy King and members' club Soho House are also drawing the line, insisting guests ditch the glasses at the door.
- Another blow for Meta The ban adds to Meta's woes, following a possible German ban, blackmail incidents, and the devices' "pervert glasses" reputation.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
Turns out there's one thing that unites a £4 pint at Wetherspoons and a £4,000-a-year membership at Soho House: nobody wants Meta's smart glasses anywhere near them.
The UK's hospitality industry is quietly cracking down on the £359 specs, with pub chains, top restaurants, and private members' clubs all drawing the same line to protect customer and staff privacy.
Wetherspoons says it's just common sense. Tim Martin, the man behind the pub chain famous for keeping pints under £4, told The Guardian that banning the covert filming aids was a no-brainer.
Customers won't be allowed to record using the glasses inside
"The general code that applies in our pubs, and most pubs, is that you can't film customers or employees without their permission," Martin said.
"Meta glasses seem to breach this [privacy] code and common sense, by enabling surreptitious surveillance, so our instinct is to say turn off the cameras."Tim Martin, founder and chairman of J D Wetherspoon
"Meta glasses seem to breach this code and common sense, by enabling surreptitious surveillance, so our instinct is to say turn off the cameras."
Even media-friendly, tech-savvy establishments such as Soho House have rejected the specs. The private members club, where fees run between £2,000 and £4,000 a year, is telling members to take the glasses off before they even walk through the door.
And London's top restaurateurs are on board too. Jeremy King, the man behind Simpsons in the Strand, Arlington, and The Park, is just as firm.
"I would never knowingly allow any invasion of guest privacy other than with the eyes we were born with,"Celebrated restaurateur Jeremy King
The British hospitality ban is the latest setback for Meta, which learned this week that its AI-powered smart glasses, which record video and audio, are essentially disguised cameras that could possibly be banned under German law.
Not a good look
Despite a multimillion-pound ad campaign fronted by Kylie Jenner, Meta’s devices, and those like them, have been dragged through the mud, with people calling them “pervert glasses.”
In one incident earlier this year, a woman says she was covertly filmed by a man wearing smart glasses, who then requested money to remove the video from social media.
Meta-owned Instagram has even cracked down on pranksters and Ray-Ban Meta creep pick-up artists who share footage from the glasses on the platform.
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Meta maintains that people use its glasses because they’re helpful, not to spy on people. They’re useful for listening to music, live translations, or hands-free calls.
While the glasses resemble normal eyewear, there’s an LED that turns on when recording is in progress, and if someone covers or damages it, the camera is disabled.
