Why Meta's Smart Glasses Are Being Called 'Pervert Glasses'

Meta's AI glasses face lawsuits, government probes, and public backlash over secret recording and privacy fears in 2026.

Meta is building AI-powered smart glasses that it hopes will one day replace your smartphone. But instead of excitement, the devices have earned a troubling nickname online: "pervert glasses." Here's why.

The glasses can secretly record video and photos of the people around you. Throughout 2026, this ability has sparked a wave of controversies, lawsuits, and government investigations.

Here are the key incidents:

January: A BBC investigation found women were secretly filmed in public with Meta's Ray-Ban glasses. The videos were posted to TikTok without their consent, gaining hundreds of thousands of views.
February: Swedish newspapers revealed that contractors in Nairobi, hired to train Meta's AI, reviewed private footage — including people undressing, using bathrooms, and even credit card numbers.
March: Meta faced a class-action lawsuit (a legal case where many people sue together as a group) claiming it failed to tell users that human workers could view their footage. U.S. senators also questioned Meta's plans for facial recognition (technology that can identify a person's face automatically).
April: The ACLU (a civil rights group) and 75 other organizations urged Meta to drop facial recognition plans, calling it "a red line society must not cross."
May: Texas's Attorney General (the state's top lawyer) launched an official investigation into the glasses.
July: Meta updated the glasses after users found ways to hide the recording light that warns bystanders. Still, protest campaigns spread across New York, London, and Washington.

The pressure kept growing. Police in Scotland began investigating a TikToker accused of secretly filming people. Major events like Comic Con and the DEF CON hacker conference banned the glasses entirely over privacy fears.

Why does this matter for investors? Meta is a huge public company, and repeated legal battles and government scrutiny can affect its reputation and finances. While these glasses are a small part of Meta's business today, ongoing controversies could shape how the public — and regulators — treat the company's future products.

Bottom line: Meta wants to make smart glasses mainstream, but privacy concerns are becoming a serious obstacle.

This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://decrypt.co/374808/whats-the-deal-with-meta-pervert-glasses