In July, Meta published a press release saying that it would issue $2 million worth of grants to 30 organizations that would test ways its AI glasses could “help people work safer, learn faster, and live more independently.”
uncertain
people → publish → ways
The grantees include organizations that would develop workshops to help Blind people utilize the devices and assist people with intellectual disabilities prepare to enter the workforce.
asserted
people → include → workforce
“We want to ensure the future is for everyone—giving every person the tools to reach their full potential,” Meta wrote in the release.
asserted
Meta → want → release
Meta also maintains a program to distribute its AI glasses to Blind veterans in the United States, which it has highlighted in recent advertising.
asserted
it → maintain → advertising
The company, a viewer may conclude, is doing actual good.
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viewer → conclude → good
Meta first released its smart glasses, which include multiple cameras and speakers, in 2021; its latest version, launched in June, includes a raft of AI capabilities, which have drawn considerably more attention—and alarm.
asserted
which → release → attention
As my colleague Anna Merlan recently wrote,
The company describes the glasses’ AI capabilities as “a helpful voice in your ear,” which is probably meant to be less chilling than it sounds.
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it → write → ear
But the glasses, too, have been met with intense controversy over privacy and nonconsensual filming.
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glasses → meet → privacy
They are unpopular in a rich variety of settings: UK cinemas are considering banning them entirely, while Immigration and Customs Enforcement has banned employees from wearing them at work.
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Enforcement → consider → work
HateAid, a German digital advocacy group, has lodged a criminal complaint seeking to stop them from being sold in that country at all.
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HateAid → lodge → country
New technology can be immensely helpful for disabled people navigating the world.
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technology → navigate → world
Smart glasses, which are not exclusive to Meta, can have legitimate benefits for Blind people and others with low vision: hearing a dictated description of what’s in front of them, or having texts read aloud.
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texts → have → them
People with limited or no mobility in their arms can use the glasses to take photos of loved ones.
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People → use → ones
In a 2025 review of Meta glasses for the American Foundation for the Blind, vision rehabilitation therapist Steve Kelley weighed the pros and cons of the devices, writing that Meta glasses were affordable but “not instantaneous or accurate enough for something like street crossings” and cannot “replace tools like a white cane for orientation and mobility.”
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glasses → weigh → orientation
Noah Currier, president and founder of the Oscar Mike Foundation, said that his team has been working with Meta in the development phase of newer versions of Meta glasses for about three years.
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team → say → years
“They brought veterans with disabilities, including people with spinal cord injuries, memory loss, and low vision, into the room early to shape how the hardware and features actually work,” Currier said.
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Currier → bring → room
Currier, who is quadriplegic, told me that his organization got in touch with Meta when the tech giant did outreach to disability organizations.
“I have really thought it was responsible,” Currier told me.
asserted
Currier → tell → me
I asked Currier about privacy concerns around Meta glasses; he told me he was not “real invested in knowing what any sort of policy or answer should be moving forward,” but feels the positives outweigh the negatives.
asserted
positives → ask → negatives
But disabled people, like anyone else, may not want to be filmed by strangers in their day-to-day lives—and are uniquely affected by surveillance in ways that predate smart glasses.
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that → want → glasses
Insurance companies have surveilled disability claimants through the use of private investigators.
asserted
companies → surveille → investigators
Disabled people seeking accommodations at work face stifling scrutiny; the rise of “bossware,” surveillance technology used to monitor employees, has an outsized impact on disabled people.
asserted
rise → seek → people
Experts I spoke with raised similar concerns that the spread of ubiquitous surveillance harms disabled people overall.
asserted
spread → speak → people
Some advocate bans on smart glasses in medical settings, arguing that they may inadvertently capture HIPAA-protected personal health information or simply “change behavior, increase anxiety, and undermine trust.”
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they → advocate → trust
Posters on social media have reported pharmacy workers wearing smart glasses, nursing professionals wearing them on the job, or themselves using smart glasses to subtly photograph private health documents left visible at a doctor’s office.
asserted
themselves → report → office
One law firm has documented an array of concerns around smart wearables in nursing homes, particularly that people with cognitive disabilities “may not fully understand that footage could be uploaded or shared, that the glasses contain a camera and microphones, when recording has started, what will happen to the recording [or] who might eventually see it.”
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who → document → it
Meta has faced other criticism around its record on disability and health generally.
asserted
Meta → face → disability
In 2023, the mental health app BetterHelp faced federal fines for sharing protected health data with platforms including Meta.
asserted
app → face → Meta
In 2025, a California jury held Meta liable for violating California privacy laws by improperly collecting reproductive health data from users of FloHealth, a period tracking app.
asserted
Meta → hold → FloHealth
And an ongoing class-action lawsuit alleges that Meta’s Pixel tracking software “allowed Facebook to receive data about users’ medical conditions, doctors searched, and appointments booked, all without patients’ knowledge or HIPAA-compliant authorization.”
asserted
Facebook → allege → knowledge
And in July, the company was sued under allegations that it used artificial intelligence to target people who took medical leave.
asserted
who → sue → leave
One former employee with a serious health condition alleged in the lawsuit that he was told by his management that taking leave “would result in his selection for the anticipated reduction in force”; in a statement to my colleague Alex Nguyen, a spokesperson said that “workforce management and organizational decisions were and are made by people, not AI.”
asserted
management → allege → people
Right before the start of the second Trump administration, Meta killed its major DEI programs, another blow to disabled employees.
asserted
Meta → kill → employees
It’s not the first time that Meta, which has faced waves of criticism around privacy, surveillance, data mining, and its handling of user information, has met pushback in trying to provide what the company sees as a vital service.
asserted
company → ’ → service
More than a decade ago, Mark Zuckerberg personally headed up a push to provide a form of free internet access to millions of people in India, only to be rebuffed by regulators.
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Zuckerberg → head → regulators
From Meta’s point of view, the potential benefits of the glasses should again put skeptics on the back foot.
asserted
benefits → put → foot
Surely Meta is already subjected to enough critique around the placement of its data centers, alleged efforts to secure preferential treatment from government officials, high-dollar lobbying against regulation, and the effects of its products on young people, scrutiny that led to a landmark settlement in August, with Meta paying some $18 billion to resolve claims that it knew its products were addictive, underregulated, and harmful to youth.
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products → subject → youth
In a statement to Mother Jones, Meta spokesperson Dana Still said that the company “builds for everyone and has a long history of working with partners like the Blinded Veterans Association, Lighthouse Guild, and Oscar Mike.
asserted
company → say → Association
As part of this work, we gather feedback and create capabilities and programs to build products and technology that better serve people.”
asserted
that → gather → people
The firm did not respond to privacy concerns directly in its statement.
asserted
firm → respond → statement
A spokesperson for Meta previously told CBS News Texas in May that “privacy and data protection are core to every product we build at Meta,” including its glasses.
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we → tell → glasses
…and 21 more, not listed.
The Aporia
