Smart glasses such as Meta Ray-Bans are giving men the tools to "stalk and harass" women in private spaces including at work and in the gym, researchers have warned.
Women are facing a growing threat of being filmed without their consent in places they would normally expect privacy by men wearing the glasses, and facing these videos being shared online for views, a new study from the University of Sydney (UoS) found.
The authors analysed hundreds of videos from "pick-up" content creators posted on Instagram between 2023 to 2026. In the videos, men wearing smart glasses approach women with the aim of getting their phone number or Instagram handle and then share that online for engagement. Some of the women in the study were filmed at work, the gym, or the beach in swimwear, researchers said.
Around 60 percent of covert point-of-view Instagram videos analysed by the researchers showed behaviour classified as potential harassment, and in 43 per cent of videos, the women were further exposed to derogatory commentary, some being identified and doxxed.
Many women showed discomfort or refusal, yet filming and interaction often continued, according to the study.
"Smart glasses have given pickup artists a new tool to further exploit women," Dr Milica Stilinovic, a postdoctoral research associate at UoS said. "We call it 'ambient capture' because it is a state of play in which men might seem disarming. They will stalk and harass you in places of work, the stairwell of your apartment building, on the street, in the gym, and at the beach – places where you'd assume some sort of right to privacy.
"You don't know if you're being filmed; that footage is then uploaded, exposing you to a wider web of harassment."
The researchers have now called on governments and tech companies to slow down the release of more smart glasses so that they can be better regulated to protect privacy and against misuse.
"Tech is running at breakneck speed and regulators, a pace behind, cannot regulate harms once they've already manifested in the wild," Dr Stilinovic said. "It's time for Big Tech to come to the table and slow down the release of more smart glasses so that regulation gets a better scope of what they're dealing with."
Meta said its glasses come with a built-in LED light that turns on when the wearer is filming. It later made changes to stop the glasses working when the light is tampered with after dozens of videos online showed users how to disable the light.
It added it has cracked down on pick-up style videos following recent comments from Instagram chief executive Adam Mosseri, who said the company is trying to fight the videos "every way we can".
Filming in public places is currently legal in the UK, but filming in areas where people have a reasonable expectation of privacy is not generally allowed without the explicit consent of the landowner.
It comes after popular pub chain Wetherspoon said Meta glasses would be banned inside its venues last week, accusing the glasses of "enabling surreptitious surveillance".
Meta glasses have been at the centre of a controversy over privacy rights as women reported feeling "scared" and "violated" by being filmed without their consent.
Domestic abuse charity Refuge has repeatedly warned the glasses "threaten the safety of all women and girls in public, facilitating harassment, surveillance and other abuse".
The glasses have also been banned in some schools and recently by Monopoly Events, the company behind Comic-Con, who banned Meta glasses from its events to stop "secret filming" of guests and attendees.
A Meta spokesperson said: "We designed our AI glasses with privacy and safety features built in from the start — informed by engagement with safety experts. Our glasses have always had an LED light that activates whenever someone captures a photo or video for their gallery. They also feature tamper detection technology, and we are updating the glasses to disable the camera if they detect the LED was physically tampered with or destroyed.
"No other kind of camera has done this and we're proud to lead the industry forward. We have teams dedicated to ensuring our glasses feel great for wearers and the people around them, so we can continue delivering products that make everyday life better."
A government spokesperson said: "Recording someone in public to cause alarm or distress may constitute offences such as harassment or stalking. We are already further strengthening protections for victims of intimate image abuse through new offences in the Crime and Policing Act.
"We will continue to engage with the Information Commissioner's Office to ensure regulation remains effective as technology evolves and that people's information rights are protected."
Source: Independent
--Agencies
