Smart glasses equipped with cameras, microphones, and AI are a creeping privacy and security nightmare, prompting backlash.
And rightfully so.
Smart glasses equipped with cameras, microphones, and AI are a creeping privacy and security nightmare, prompting backlash.
And rightfully so.
I hate how these are being used, both by Meta and by creeps.
I bought a pair of them after trying out a friends (back before they had any AI capability, and had not yet been hacked to dox people) because they’re really good speakers and the exact same style of sunglasses that I’ve worn for 30 years. The first thing I did was disable the always on mic (which required me to log in to meta, which I had to make an account for using a burner email). The second thing I did was purchase lens covers so people could be confident I wasn’t recording them. Finding covers that worked for the lens and not just the light was a pain because I apparently everyone is doing the opposite thing with these that I wanted to. Also, I wanted to make sure that the lens cover could be removed because I wanted to be able to retain the ability to make hands free first person videos (in places without other people). It’s also super helpful for making footage of things that require you to use both hands.
I hope any future smart glasses (because there’s no way this product is going to go away) don’t just indicate when they are recording, but they make it obvious to others when they’re in a state that they cannot be recording (video at least). A built in lens cover solves that. If I was to buy another pair of smart glasses (which I currently have no plans to do), it would be an absolute requirement that people around me understand that I’m not making video of them, doxxing them, or in any way using an image of them.
There are a ton of great applications for this and other cameras. If you’re a woman walking around by herself it could help prove that an assault took place, for example. The problem is that the people buying these things are the freaks, not the innocents.
“Invading people’s privacy by recording them without their knowledge or consent is only wrong when a man does it.”
So obviously beside the point…can you not turn this into Reddit please? I don’t own meta glasses or film anyone in public without them being aware. The only situation in which I would, which I’ve already said I don’t, is if I’m alone and concerned for my safety.
And yeah men are more likely to use them for perverted reasons.
So are we gonna normalize them and say they’re okay, or are we gonna say they’re an invasion of everyone’s privacy and shouldn’t be acceptable?
Because you can’t have it both ways unless you want to call yourself a hypocrite. This isn’t reddit, but that doesn’t mean you can flaunt your logical inconsistencies and expect no one to call you out on it.
By the way, I’m firmly in the camp of “these are an invasion of everyone’s privacy,” but if you wanna argue “well actually they have some uses” then I don’t want to hear you crying later when someone uses it to invade your privacy. Don’t be so short-sighted.
It’s not beside the point at all.