Wearable technology is undergoing a significant shift as Big Tech companies increasingly pivot toward smart glasses, leveraging advances in artificial intelligence. While a 2013 attempt by Google to popularize such devices failed, recent offerings from Meta, developed in collaboration with Ray-Ban manufacturer EssilorLuxottica, have seen substantial market success.
Meta reported sales of approximately seven million pairs in 2025, a notable increase from the two million units sold across 2023 and 2024 combined. With other major players like Google and Snap also preparing to roll out their own AI-integrated spectacles, the technology is moving toward broader adoption.
However, this rapid growth has triggered a widespread backlash, particularly in Europe. In Britain, intense media coverage has focused on so-called "pervert glasses," fueled by reports that Meta is developing facial recognition features for the devices. Public unease intensified following reports of individuals being covertly recorded.
In one instance, a 17-year-old girl told Channel 4 News in August how she had been approached by a man who covertly recorded her and their interaction. Swedish designer Mateusz Pozar launched a "Ban Ray" website earlier this year, providing signs to ban smart glasses from venues and selling stickers.
Pozar said he started the site after his girlfriend was approached by two men wearing the glasses and recording her, which "freaked her out." He said he wanted a discussion about how "we as a society feel about this technology" before it becomes ubiquitous, noting that it serves as a lever to discuss privacy, personal rights, and data control. Pozar also pointed to his concerns about data extraction after reports about Kenya-based workers who reviewed graphic content captured by Meta's AI glasses.
In the meantime, Norway's capital Oslo banned the glasses in schools this week as the government mulls regulating their use and considers a ban on features that enable facial recognition in public. There are similar calls for the European Union to take up the issue, while France's CNIL data protection watchdog has urged "vigilance." EU lawmaker Veronika Cifrova Ostrihonova told AFP she raised the issue with the bloc's executive after the first cases of women being secretly filmed, seeking to know if the glasses comply with data protection and AI rules.
The Slovak lawmaker stated she is still awaiting an answer, adding, "We need clear EU rules to protect and strong enforcement to make sure new technologies don't come at the expense of our fundamental rights." The European Commission said national data protection authorities were "responsible for monitoring and enforcing" privacy rules. The EU executive would not be drawn on what further action it could take, but the independent European Data Protection Board commissioned a report expected in autumn looking at the glasses' "social acceptability."
That report will guide the European Parliament, where lawmaker Alex Agius Saliba said there were concerns across the political spectrum. "We must act as soon as possible," he said, adding, "For me, they are still 'pervert glasses.' As things stand today, we should definitely go for a ban" until they're proven safe. A petition has more than 9,100 signatures so far, and the British government must respond if it reaches 10,000.
One of the campaign's founders, teacher Guy Holder, said he had several concerns about the glasses including their effects on girls and women and a broader "invasion" of public spaces that could lead to "total surveillance." He told AFP, "We are also concerned more broadly about an atmosphere in which it feels like anybody can film anybody without their knowledge or consent."
Meta, when contacted by AFP, said it has taken multiple steps to prevent tampering with the blinking LED light intended to show other people the device is recording, which remains a key concern of critics. "These investments are already having a deterrent effect," the company said, noting that firms offering to disable the LED lights had shut down as a result. The devices first grabbed attention this summer after a marketing tie-up between beauty mogul Kylie Jenner and tech giant Meta.
