Overview
- Meta’s Ray‑Ban smart glasses have become a mass consumer product with reported sales of more than seven million pairs, driven by celebrity promotion and wide availability.
- Researchers at the University of Sydney found that over half of covert point‑of‑view videos on Instagram showed possible harassment, often filming women without consent.
- Investigations revealed that audio and video from the glasses’ AI features were routed to Meta servers and reviewed by human labelers at a third‑party firm in Nairobi, a partnership Meta has since ended.
- In mid‑August 2026 courts in England and Wales and hundreds of UK venues including Wetherspoons, theatres and private clubs introduced bans or restrictions on the glasses.
- Meta has added a recording LED, tamper‑detection firmware and platform takedowns on Instagram, but independent checks and viral incidents show many harassing videos remain online and enforcement gaps persist.