Meta releases update to stop smart glasses “perverts,” but users say it might be too late
Keeping the LED light on at all costs.
Image by Habanero Pixel | Shutterstock
- Meta says its update stops camera use when the smart glasses’ recording light is covered.
- Users previously bypassed the warning light by covering it or removing it from the frame.
- Some critics say the update does not address voice recording or broader harassment concerns.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
Meta says it will release an update to its smart glasses that it hopes will help address privacy concerns about secret recording.
Meta’s smart glasses come with a light that indicates when the device is on and recording, making others aware. However, some users went so far as to block or even remove the light.
The company is now releasing a software update that would stop the device from recording the second the light is covered.
Alex Himel, Meta’s VP, shared on Threads that due to the new update, the device’s camera won’t work if its LED light is covered.
Previously, smart glasses users would start recording with the LED light on and later cover it, as a way to bypass the privacy feature.
Himel also shared that the company will “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.”
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Skeptics aren’t convinced
The new update sparked an online discussion, with some users being rather skeptical about it.
“It will still record voice. Ban these things everywhere,” noted one Redditor.
“Too little, too late. They failed to get ahead of the narrative that users are creeps, and their market is all but gone,” added another user.
“How about an update where everyone one of these is pulled from the market and destroyed,” wrote another user.
Meta is rolling out a new update that stops video recording on its smart glasses if the capture LED is covered after recording has already begun
by u/pdfu in technology
Meta previously issued an update after learning that some users remove the LED light themselves or even pay technicians to drill it out of the frame.
After discovering that such services can be found on social media, Meta went so far as to remove ads, Facebook Marketplace listings, and other social media posts that provide them.
With controversy around the use of Meta glasses to stalk and harass people escalating, some owners who find the device useful in creating travel or other content say they’re scared to use it now.
Some say they are concerned about being mistakenly called out for recording someone without their consent, or being called perverts.
And in California, a bill is proposed that would criminalize disabling a warning light on smart glasses, with potential offenders facing prison time.
