We're building something ‘irresponsible’! – Part 1

In 2025, over seven million people bought Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses. They look like ordinary eyewear. They record video and audio; it’s causing problems! The questions this raises are not hypothetical. Two Harvard students, and others, have demonstrated that footage from Meta Ray-Ban glasses could be linked to facial recognition systems to identify strangers in public. (Example 1, Example 2)

More recently, a joint investigation by two Swedish newspapers found that footage recorded by the glasses, including deeply private moments, is reviewed by human contractors in Kenya, with workers describing repeated exposure to bathroom visits, people undressing, and bank card details. 

What makes these devices different is that the unwritten rules we rely on to navigate public space, eye contact, the phone on the table, the camera pointed at you, simply weren't written with this in mind. Moreover, the safety features put into the camera are being hacked and changed to be even more difficult to notice. So, what can we do? 

Article Cover Image from link