‘It’s just because it’s a new form factor’: Qualcomm’s XR SVP defends smart glasses against privacy panic ahead of Meta Connect

Smart glasses have become increasingly popular, but their face-mounted cameras have sparked privacy concerns, particularly as Meta Connect approaches. At the Snapdragon Summit, Ziad Asghar, Qualcomm's SVP and GM of XR, defended the smart glasses category. While Qualcomm's hardware-level privacy tools are impressive, they rely on consumer behavior and corporate accountability.

"It's just a phone" (Image credit: Future) Asghar compared the concern over smart glasses to the public's comfort with carrying multiple cameras on their phones. However, the invisibility of smart glasses' cameras makes them inherently covert, unlike smartphones. Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips have built-in technology to process privacy on-device, avoiding cloud processing.

The key feature is hardware-level face obfuscation, which detects faces instead of recognizing them and covers them up. This on-device AI processing is integrated into Qualcomm's products and shared with partners. However, the issue lies with the OEMs, as they control the final product. While Qualcomm provides the enabling technologies, it's up to device manufacturers to implement the privacy protections.

Asghar argued that market economics will pressure hardware makers to prioritize privacy, but history has shown that convenience often outweighs strict data privacy. Until mandatory, un-bypassable privacy protections are enforced, public trust will remain a concern for smart glasses.