Meta's smart glasses, which can record video without notice, have been used to film women in public places such as streets, gyms, and change rooms, often with the footage posted on Instagram and TikTok. According to Suzie Dunn, an assistant professor of law at Dalhousie University, the primary purpose of these recordings is not for genuine pickup attempts, but rather to create instructional videos aimed at men who pay to learn pick-up techniques. The women in these videos are often identified and mocked by strangers online, with some even receiving unwanted messages or comments on their social media accounts. Meta's defense against these concerns is the small white light that indicates when the camera is recording, although it can be disabled with tape.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-18,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
The only sign that a pair of Meta glasses is recording you is a small white light on the frame, and it can be defeated.
asserted
it → record → frame
Men are using the camera glasses to film women who do not know it is happening, and not only on the street.
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it → use → street
It is happening in gyms, in bathrooms and in change rooms.
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It → happen → rooms
The footage lands on Instagram and TikTok, where the women in it are identified and mocked in the comments.
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women → land → comments
For these reasons, news outlets such as The Guardian, Wired and Vox, among countless others, have dubbed them “pervert glasses,” a term that also found its way into a recent Jimmy Kimmel monologue and skit.
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that → dub → monologue
The glasses are built not to be noticed.
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glasses → build → ?
They look like ordinary sunglasses, and the light is the only warning anyone gets that a camera is running.
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camera → look → sunglasses
Meta launched a cheaper second line in June with EssilorLuxottica, the eyewear group that owns Ray-Ban and Oakley, starting at $409 in Canada and carrying neither brand name.
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that → launch → name
One of the three styles was designed with Kylie Jenner.
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One → design → Jenner
They went on sale here at launch.
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They → go → launch
The most visible use is the pickup video, where a man approaches a woman in public, films the exchange without telling her and posts it.
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man → approach → it
Suzie Dunn, an assistant professor of law at Dalhousie University who researches technology-facilitated gender-based violence, said the point is not the woman.
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point → research → violence
“I don’t think they’re genuinely trying to pick up these women,” Dunn said.
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Dunn → think → women
Rather, she said the videos are meant to be instructional, aimed at men who pay to learn the technique.
“Many of these people are trying to gain followers.
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Many → say → followers
They often sell classes or other types of subscription-based models where people pay them to show how to be a pick-up artist,” she said.
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she → sell → them
The women find out later.
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women → find → ?
“Once their images are published, they’ve been identified.
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they → publish → ?
Often their school will be identified, their workplace will be identified, sometimes their phone number or their social media accounts will get contacted by people who will critique their appearance, will critique the way that they reacted to this pickup artist,” Dunn said.
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Dunn → identify → artist
Dunn separates that from a second category.
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Dunn → separate → category
“There’s the other context which is, you know, filming in bathrooms, filming in change rooms, filming during sexual activities and that’s a different category of non-consensual filming than the pick-up artists,” she said.
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she → ’ → artists
Olivia Avison, a peer support worker at the Digital Sexual Violence Support Centre in Mississauga and a master of social work candidate, said the settings are ordinary.
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settings → say → work
It can happen anywhere “from a park to a library,” she said.
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she → happen → library
She also manages a massage therapy clinic, where she said there would be “zero acceptance” of anyone recording.
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she → manage → anyone
The company says the capture LED blinks briefly when a photo is taken and keeps blinking through a video, that it has no off switch, and that it is there so everyone around the wearer knows they are recording.
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they → say → wearer
Covering it with tape has disabled the camera since the second generation.
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Covering → cover → generation
“We are continuously improving our ability to detect tampering, and now we’re updating the glasses to disable the camera if they detect the LED was physically tampered with or destroyed,” Meta said in the post.
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Meta → improve → post
The update is mandatory and covers Ray-Ban Meta, Oakley Meta and Meta’s own line.
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update → cover → Meta
Jake Moore, a global cybersecurity advisor at the security firm ESET who bought a pair and tested them, said that is not the end of it.
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that → buy → it
The light “can be switched off or hidden with a worryingly simple modification,” he said in an email to National Post.
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he → switch → Post
“The fact this is possible is extremely worrying and shows that Meta has built the glasses without a privacy focus,” he wrote.
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he → show → focus
Moore has told Meta about the workaround and is holding the technical details while he waits for the company to respond.
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company → tell → details
He’s not aware of any plans to fix it.
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He → ’ → it
His advice does not depend on the light at all.
“If people don’t see an LED light switched on, they should still assume that the glasses could still in fact be recording,” Moore wrote.
uncertain
Moore → depend → fact
Meta acknowledged questions from National Post about the recording light and the modifications but did not provide answers by deadline.
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Meta → acknowledge → deadline
Dunn sees the same thing from the other side.
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Dunn → see → side
People who want the light off find each other online, she said.
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she → want → other
“If you go on to places on the internet where these communities exist, they provide each other with instructions on how to do it.
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they → go → it
And so far, it seems that they have been very effective in learning how to turn the light off.”
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they → seem → light
Dunn said that covers the change room.
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that → say → room
“If someone has turned off the light of their glasses, they haven’t told the person that they’re recording.
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they → turn → person
…and 21 more, not listed.
