Meta’s AI smart glasses and data privacy concerns • Hacker News Board

Re: Meta’s AI smart glasses and data privacy concerns

#41

Post by gambiting » Mon, Mar 02, 2026, 11:03 PM UTC

MerrimanInd wrote: post #17

I was in engineering school back in ~2012 when Google Glass came out. One of my classmates got hold of a pair when they were still quite uncommon and wore them to an extracurricular club meeting. Within minutes someone made a comment about him wearing the "creeper" glasses and asked if he was filming. He never wore them to the club again. I just don't see a world where that doesn't happen with Meta glasses.

>>I just don't see a world where that doesn't happen with Meta glasses.

Apparently they sold 7 million of these. So I think a whole lot of people don't care about this aspect.

Re: Meta’s AI smart glasses and data privacy concerns

#42

Post by bogzz » Mon, Mar 02, 2026, 11:04 PM UTC

algoth1 wrote: post #38

bogzz wrote: post #34

I am so far removed from the type of person who might consider buying something like that. You'd have to be exceptionally impervious to social cues to even think of wearing that in public. If you're blind, it's of course understandable but that's pretty much it in terms of cases in which I would consider the glasses acceptable to wear in public.

Yet, it’s a life saver for blind people

Thanks for the edge case! Edited.

Re: Meta’s AI smart glasses and data privacy concerns

#43

Post by wongarsu » Mon, Mar 02, 2026, 11:04 PM UTC

MerrimanInd wrote: post #17

I was in engineering school back in ~2012 when Google Glass came out. One of my classmates got hold of a pair when they were still quite uncommon and wore them to an extracurricular club meeting. Within minutes someone made a comment about him wearing the "creeper" glasses and asked if he was filming. He never wore them to the club again. I just don't see a world where that doesn't happen with Meta glasses.

Judging from the examples reported on in the article, Meta's smart glasses are either very easy to accidentally trigger or quite popular with actual creeps

Re: Meta’s AI smart glasses and data privacy concerns

#44

Post by smbullet » Mon, Mar 02, 2026, 11:04 PM UTC

Hopefully this causes Meta to be more transparent about what data is sent to their annotators. It seems like even the annotators didn't know whether the person explicitly hit recorded (whether accidentally or not) or if it's samples from a constant stream. This kind of makes it impossible for anyone to consent to the purchase agreements.

Re: Meta’s AI smart glasses and data privacy concerns

#45

Post by dangus » Mon, Mar 02, 2026, 11:05 PM UTC

xmx98 wrote: post #31

yogorenapan wrote: post #9

The annoying thing is that even if you yourself don't use these glasses, as long as people around you do, you are still affected by it. We really need laws to limit always-on recording devices in places where we have an expectation of privacy.

I heard that in Japan phones have an audible shutter sound. Not mandated by law. Though I think that having this in the law is very reasonable. Maybe EU can step up. Taking photos is more fun with the sound too.

It’s not one law but it’s essentially a collaborative result of ordinances, manufacturers, and telecom carriers.

https://japandaily.jp/why-you-cant-turn-off-the-camera-shutt...

Re: Meta’s AI smart glasses and data privacy concerns

#46

Post by wongarsu » Mon, Mar 02, 2026, 11:05 PM UTC

blakesterz wrote: post #29

Meta aims to introduce facial recognition to its smart glasses while its biggest critics are distracted, according to a report from The New York Times. In an internal document reviewed by The Times, Meta says it will launch the feature “during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns.” https://www.theverge.co…

That shouldn't be too difficult with the current US administration. Maybe another reason Bezos and Trump get along so well

Re: Meta’s AI smart glasses and data privacy concerns

#47

Post by sschueller » Mon, Mar 02, 2026, 11:05 PM UTC

aucisson_masque wrote: post #10

sschueller wrote: post #4

Of course, why wouldn't they? They do not work without a meta account. /s Is anyone at meta going to be bald accountable? An absolute privacy nightmare especially in places like Switzerland or Germany where recording people (subject focus) even in public is not permitted without consent but you have tourists now showing up everywhere wearing these. The LED is barely visible during the day and some have modified their…

> An absolute privacy nightmare especially in places like Switzerland or Germany where recording people (subject focus) even in public is not permitted That's the prime example of a law that can't be enforced and thus shouldn't exist. You go in town, you can be recorded inadvertantly, as long as it's not some creep stalking you, I say it's fine.

It can and is enforced. Again it's if the person is the focus of your video.

If you post a video online of someone's worst day which you decided to film for entertainment, they can legally go after you.

Re: Meta’s AI smart glasses and data privacy concerns

#48

Post by dyauspitr » Mon, Mar 02, 2026, 11:05 PM UTC

MerrimanInd wrote: post #17

I was in engineering school back in ~2012 when Google Glass came out. One of my classmates got hold of a pair when they were still quite uncommon and wore them to an extracurricular club meeting. Within minutes someone made a comment about him wearing the "creeper" glasses and asked if he was filming. He never wore them to the club again. I just don't see a world where that doesn't happen with Meta glasses.

It’s just going to be accepted. Or there is going to be some sort of Japanesque requirement that there be some light on when the camera is filming.

Re: Meta’s AI smart glasses and data privacy concerns

#49

Post by mmh0000 » Mon, Mar 02, 2026, 11:06 PM UTC

flir wrote: post #37

MerrimanInd wrote: post #17

I was in engineering school back in ~2012 when Google Glass came out. One of my classmates got hold of a pair when they were still quite uncommon and wore them to an extracurricular club meeting. Within minutes someone made a comment about him wearing the "creeper" glasses and asked if he was filming. He never wore them to the club again. I just don't see a world where that doesn't happen with Meta glasses.

It's strange to me that that's the line society seems to have drawn in the sand. Body cam, no problem. Doorbell cam, practically universal. Body cam worn on the face? No way. I wonder why.

"Surveillance Camera Man"[1] makes a good practical example of it.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9sVqKFkjiY

Re: Meta’s AI smart glasses and data privacy concerns

#50

Post by jiggawatts » Mon, Mar 02, 2026, 11:06 PM UTC

lnrd wrote: post #28

bigyabai wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I will be genuinely shocked if people aren't taping their smartphone cameras by 2030.

Cameras in phones are pretty much locked up today, assuming you have an updated version of the OS from a respectable manufacturer. Apps will not be able to access the camera feed (or the microphone) without explicit consent and a visual warning. The manufacturer might access it, Apple states they don't, Google and Samsung I'm not sure. A bad actor with 0days might too.

For reference, Samsung screenshots everything shown on their televisions at regular intervals and sends these to their South Korean data centres for advertisers to use. It's called Automatic Content Recognition (ACR), which any sane country should be outright banning under international espionage laws.