A parliamentary push to outlaw Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses has gained steam in Britain as covert recordings of women and girls continue surfacing online. A petition demanding a sales ban now sits just shy of the 10,000-signature threshold that would compel a government response.
The controversy escalated over the summer following a promotional collaboration between Meta and beauty entrepreneur Kylie Jenner. Sales figures reflect surging adoption: roughly seven million units moved in 2025 alone, nearly doubling combined totals from the previous two years. Google and Snap are racing to launch competing AI-enabled eyewear.
The backlash centers on a critical flaw critics call “pervert glasses.” While devices include a blinking LED intended to alert subjects when recording occurs, tampering methods can disable the indicator. Meta reports its countermeasures have already forced companies offering LED-bypass services to shut down.
One British teenager told Channel 4 News how a stranger secretly filmed their entire interaction in August. Swedish designer Mateusz Pozar launched a “Ban Ray” site after two men wearing the glasses approached his girlfriend and recorded her without consent. “This is a lever to have a discussion about privacy, personal rights, control over my data,” Pozar stated.
Meanwhile, Oslo banned smart glasses in schools this week. French watchdog CNIL urged vigilance, while Slovak EU lawmaker Veronika Cifrova Ostrihonova pressed Brussels on whether the devices violate data protection rules. “We need clear EU rules to protect and strong enforcement to make sure new technologies don’t come at the expense of our fundamental rights,” she stated.
The European Data Protection Board commissioned a report on the glasses’ “social acceptability” expected this autumn. Malta’s Alex Agius Saliba voiced cross-party concerns in Parliament. “As things stand today, we should definitely go for a ban” until proven safe, he stated.
Campaign co-founder Guy Holder, a teacher, warned of “an atmosphere in which it feels like anybody can film anybody without their knowledge or consent.” Whatever regulators decide, wearable tech’s collision with privacy rights now seems unavoidable.
