Overview
- On Monday major pub chain JD Wetherspoon announced a ban on Meta and other smart glasses across its more than 800 UK pubs, telling customers they may not film patrons or staff without permission.
- His Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service is confiscating Meta smart glasses at court entrances and returning them on exit to stop unauthorised recording of proceedings and protect witness privacy.
- A University of Sydney analysis of 350 Instagram point-of-view videos linked to pickup-artist creators found about 60% showed potential harassment and 43% exposed women to abusive commentary or doxxing.
- Meta says each pair has a visible capture LED and tamper-detection that can disable recording, and Instagram is removing harassing videos, but independent reporting shows many violative clips remain online.
- Cheap knockoff models and strong sales have mainstreamed the devices, police units have begun buying them for operations, and Australia’s attorney-general has asked the privacy commissioner for an urgent review.