We’ve all felt like we’re being watched – but the 2026 version of that is feeling like we’re being filmed with smart glasses.
These gadgets have exploded in popularity since Meta began making them with sunglasses brands Ray-Ban and Oakley in 2023.
But people like YouTube pranksters and pickup artists have increasingly been using the specs to film women without their consent, women’s campaigners told Metro.
This is one of the reasons why Yves Jeanrenaud, a sociologist in Germany, built an app that tells you if anyone nearby is wearing a pair.
Nearby Glasses, which was released on the Apple App Store on Thursday, scans for smart glasses’ distinctive Bluetooth signatures.
If it spots someone wearing these goggles, the app will send a notification: ‘⚠️ Smart Glasses are probably nearby.’
Jeanrenaud told Metro he felt that smart glasses, sometimes called ‘pervert glasses’ by online critics, would ‘inevitably be used for spying’.
The souped-up glasses can take photos and videos, use an in-screen lens to display apps and have AI bots chat to you through built-in speakers.
‘These smart glasses are largely perceived as some kind of spy product,’ Jeanrenaud says.
‘We all remember probably the spy movies and novels featuring such sci-fi technology… Meta Ray-Bans are hardly distinguishable from their fashionable eyewear siblings.’
Jeanrenaud pointed to the upset caused in February by Ring’s Super Bowl ad for an AI-powered dog detector as showing that not everyone is a fan of surveillance tech.
Reports that US immigration officers wear them during raids, men sport them to harass massage parlour workers and that Meta could be planning to add facial recognition tech to its smart glasses only added to Jeanrenaud’s belief.
‘Hence, I decided to try to do something,’ Jeanrenaud says.
Here’s how to tell if you’re being filmed
While smart glasses are generally designed to be discreet, there are some giveaways:
- The frames are thicker, as they contain all the hardware.
- When the model is taking a photograph, an LED light in the corner of the frame lights up. It pulses when recording a video.
- To do either requires the wearer to either press a button on the arm of the glasses or give a voice command.
- A shutter sound also happens when a photo is taken.
How does the app work?
When opening Jeanrenaud’s app, which is also on the Google Play Store and GitHub, the user is asked to allow the app to find Bluetooth devices.
But this doesn’t mean it’ll find every single phone and speaker near you.
Now and again, gadgets ping out a signal that tells Bluetooth devices what it is, so they know to pair with it.
Jeanrenaud used a directory of manufacturer identifiers assigned by Bluetooth to companies like Meta, Snap and Ray-Ban’s parent Luxottica Group, so the app knows what pings to look for.
He admits that this method is by no means perfect and false positives can occur, like pinging virtual reality headsets or smart watches.
‘It’s super simple to use and really visual’
Anna Staddon, social video news lead at Metro, tested Nearby Glasses with her pair of Meta Ray-Bans.
‘I’d welcome any protections against secret filming, so I decided to give the app a test,’ she says.
‘It’s super simple to use and really visual, with a little canary telling you if smart glasses might be nearby.
‘But, sadly, the app couldn’t seem to detect my glasses, even when actively recording in close proximity. I wouldn’t totally trust its effectiveness just yet.’
The app’s description and a warning in the app stress that users should not use it to ‘harass’ smart-glasses wearers and should ‘act accordingly’.
‘In the end, it’s their choice to use such a product and you can make yours on how to deal with it, as long as you have no domiciliary rights of some sort.’ Jeanrenaud says.
‘If you are hosting a casino or a store, or you’re in the adult industry, you might want to have more control over what videos and pictures are being made in which moments.’
‘We need to see this problem tackled at the root’
Rebecca Goshawk, of the women’s aid group Solace, told Metro that smart glasses are just ‘one element’ of the harassment and abuse women face.
‘To truly improve women and girls’ safety, there needs to be a wider education piece for men and boys about boundaries, misogyny and what is and is not acceptable behaviour,’ the director of business support said.
‘Women should not have to change the way they move through the world, or download an app to prevent them from feeling threatened.’
Janaya Walker, the interim director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, told Metro that apps like Nearby Glasses can only go so far to protect women from gendered violence.
‘We need to see this problem tackled at the root – there must be more responsibility placed on the tech platforms that are enabling the abuse of women with their products,’ she says.
‘They should be held accountable by government when they fail to anticipate these risks and take steps to prevent them.’
Meta’s terms of service state that users must comply with all laws when using Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses in a safe, respectful manner.
People sporting them should not engage in harmful activities like harassment or capturing sensitive information.
Meta has been approached for comment.
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