Meta’s AI Smart Glasses Draw Mounting Privacy Backlash as “Pervert Glasses” Label Spreads

Meta is building AI-powered smart glasses as a potential replacement for smartphones, but the company’s wearable push is running into a widening privacy backlash. Online, the devices are increasingly being referred to as “pervert glasses,” a label that has gained traction after a series of investigations, legal challenges, regulatory questions, and public protests. The criticism has built throughout 2026. In January, a BBC investigation reported that women were secretly filmed in public with Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses and later posted to TikTok without consent, with some clips drawing hundreds of thousands of views. In February, a joint investigation by Swedish newspapers said Nairobi-based contractors training Meta’s AI reviewed footage captured by the glasses, including highly sensitive scenes. In March, Meta was hit with a class-action lawsuit over disclosure issues tied to human review, while Senators Edward Markey, Jeff Merkley, and Ron Wyden pressed the company about reported facial recognition plans. Civil liberties groups, regulators, campaigners, and event organizers have since added pressure. The ACLU and 75 other groups urged Meta to abandon facial recognition in future models, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton opened an investigation, and both Monopoly Events and DEF CON barred the devices from their events. Meta updated the glasses in July to disable the camera if the recording light appears to have been tampered with, but criticism has continued.