Meta Ray-Ban glasses face backlash
Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses are facing backlash in the Netherlands over privacy concerns. A major Dutch eyewear retailer, Hans Anders, has suspended sales of the glasses in the Netherlands and Belgium, citing growing worries about people, particularly women, being secretly filmed using the smart glasses. Eyewear chain Wehkamp is also pausing sales of the Meta glasses.
The retailer's decision follows a Dutch newspaper's report about people, especially women, being surreptitiously filmed in public spaces with the glasses. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of Dutch females have been secretly recorded in places like beaches, shopping streets, and bathrooms, with footage circulating in Telegram groups. Meta's glasses have camera-equipped LED indicators that blink when recording, but critics argue the warning signal can be difficult for others to notice.
Meta acknowledges the concerns and claims its glasses are equipped with anti-tampering features to disable recording if the camera is covered or tampered with. However, the Dutch Data Protection Authority and consumer rights group Consumentenbond have warned about the difficulty of detecting covert recordings and the need for stricter privacy compliance.
Meta has defended the glasses, pointing to the indicator light and anti-tampering measures, but the controversy has put the company under increasing scrutiny from retailers, privacy groups, and regulators.
Written by urgent.news from The Economic Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
