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In reply to the discussion: Apple is reportedly planning to launch AI-powered glasses, a pendant, and AirPods [View all]Polybius
(21,697 posts)Meta intentionally built visible safeguards into the design. The recording LED isnt optional you cannot simply cover it with your hand or tape and keep recording. If you try to block it, the glasses wont record. The only theoretical workaround would involve physically damaging the glasses, like drilling into them to remove the LED, which is complicated, risky, and could almost certainly destroy a very expensive product. Thats not something the average person is going to do.
And as for the claim that people wont notice the light its extremely bright and obvious when recording. If someone truly wouldnt notice that LED, they probably wouldnt notice someone discreetly taking a photo with a smartphone either. Smartphones are far more common, easy to conceal, and far less regulated in how they signal recording.
This isnt the first time new camera technology has sparked privacy panic. When camera phones first became mainstream in the early 2000s, many people insisted they were unnecessary and invasive. There were serious arguments from old-timers that such as no one needs a camera on them at all times and that only creeps would want that capability. Fast forward over twenty years, and smartphones with cameras are completely normalized. Society adapted, etiquette evolved, and life went on.
As for practical uses, there are plenty and most are completely ordinary. The glasses are incredibly convenient for hands-free calls and music while walking. The voice assistant features are genuinely useful being able to say, Hey Meta, what am I looking at? and get real-time context is impressive, helpful, and not to mention fun. And sometimes you just need to capture a quick moment without fumbling for your phone like a deer crossing your path or something happening in real time that would be gone by the time you unlock your screen.
Like any technology, the glasses can be misused but so can a phone, a laptop, or practically any recording device. The key difference here is that Meta clearly anticipated privacy concerns and built visible, enforceable safeguards directly into the hardware. Thats not negligence thats responsible design.
Technology evolves. The question isnt whether it exists its whether its built with thoughtful protections. In this case, it clearly is.