There used to be a bit you’d see every once in a while. Someone wearing glasses was about to get punched, and they’d stop the assailant as they reared their arm back, prepping the blow, and the glasses-wearer would ask, “You wouldn’t hit a man with glasses, would ya?”
It rarely worked in the movies. And it shouldn’t today. Especially since Meta’s Ray-Ban AI glasses allow anyone to record footage at any time, even in their most private and intimate moments.
Influencer Aniessa Navarro went viral on TikTok after realizing that her esthetician at a European Wax Center in Manhattan was wearing Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses. Mid-wax, Navarro asked if the glasses were live.
The employee claimed they weren’t charged and that it was a prescription. Navarro, rightfully, was in no way comforted by that. She allowed the session to continue, presumably not wanting to be a dick who told a person that they couldn’t wear their glasses. But she was freaking out about it in the back of her head all session, wondering if her most vulnerable moment was being recorded.
Woman Accuses Wax Tech of Wearing Meta Recording Glasses During Her Brazilian
She contacted the European Wax Center afterward to register her concern, which didn’t seem like much of a problem to them. They say it’s fine if their employees wear the glasses as long as they’re not recording.
Navarro doesn’t come across as a clout chaser trying to stir up drama for engagement. At every turn, she seems to be arguing that she doesn’t want any specific person to get in trouble; she wants to create a safer, more reassuring environment where privacy is guaranteed. She’d rather get the device band from being born in intimate procedures like a waxing.
It should be noted here, if it wasn’t already clear, that there is no evidence that the glasses were recording, nor is Navarro necessarily arguing that they were. It’s about the mere presence of the recording device in an intimate space when you’re at your most vulnerable.
In case you were wondering, Meta’s glasses have a little white indicator light that turns on when recording, but there are straightforward ways to bypass this to record without anyone knowing. People like Navarro would probably feel a lot safer if these things weren’t allowed in private spaces at all, and the lawyers she has spoken to told her she might have a case.
The issue is about drawing a line between innovation and creepy surveillance. If we don’t get ahead of this, we’re heading toward a future where any interaction, no matter how private, could become someone’s “content.”
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