Smart glasses with built-in cameras are being increasingly misused to secretly record people in public, creating new privacy and security concerns.
Cases reported in the UK, Europe and North America show women being filmed without their knowledge, with footage later posted online and attracting tens of thousands, and in some cases millions, of views. Devices such as Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses can look like ordinary sunglasses, making recording difficult to detect. Although recording indicators exist, guides and accessories to block them are widely available.
Campaign groups including the End Violence Against Women Coalition warn this reflects a predictable misuse of wearable technology, while researchers at the University of Kent caution that increasingly discreet devices reduce public awareness of when monitoring is taking place.
For businesses, the threat highlights the need to manage wearable surveillance risks by restricting smart glasses in sensitive areas, updating staff policies, raising awareness of covert recording, and reviewing physical security where confidential conversations or data could be exposed.