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Can You Tell if You’re Being Filmed by Smart Glasses? Here’s What the Devices Look Like

You don’t want to be secretly recorded by a wearer of Meta Ray-Bans. We’ll explain the distinguishing features of popular smart glasses.

Meta is facing another lawsuit, after an investigation by Swedish news outlets found that photos and videos captured by the company’s smart glasses can be reviewed by overseas workers. The lawsuit alleges that this access to footage — including sensitive content like nudity — goes against privacy laws and Meta’s own advertising claims.

Let’s backtrack: Meta Ray-Bans look like a chunkier pair of normal black Ray-Ban Wayfarers, and the average person probably wouldn’t suspect that those frames contain a hidden camera.

When I told my friend about them, she was disgusted. «Ew,» she said. «Why do those exist?»

I’ve never owned a pair of smart glasses, but I saw them in the wild twice last year. Once was when I was riding the New York City subway and noticed a person sitting across from me wearing the frames.

The other time was when I struck up a conversation with a guy at a bar. It took a minute in the dimly lit room, but then I recognized the telltale signs of his smart glasses.

I was unsettled. For a moment, I had the feeling of encountering an urban creature like a rat or raccoon, and I didn’t know how to behave.

«Act natural,» I told myself. He wasn’t recording me (I’m pretty certain), but I knew that he could be.

Smart glasses and privacy problems

Much of the general public still doesn’t know anything about smart glasses, and that’s a major problem.

Some smart glasses wearers are exploiting the ignorance by harassing strangers and filming their reactions. Many of their victims are homeless people, service workers and women.

These glasses aren’t a niche product, either. Meta sold 7 million pairs of smart glasses in 2025. For a relatively low price (they start at $300), «manfluencers» and other content creators can buy a pair of Meta Ray-Bans and use them to record unwitting subjects. 

Smart glasses can be used to surveil people who participate in protests or secretly record people in restrooms and other public places. The privacy problem will only get worse if companies add facial recognition features to their smart glasses — and Meta is reportedly planning to do just that.

It may not always be possible to stop someone from filming you in public without your consent. But you can make it harder for this new generation of «glassholes» to film you in secret. The first step is knowing how to identify the technology.

What do smart glasses look like?

Not all smart glasses look alike, and not all models have cameras. The vast majority of camera glasses currently available are produced by Meta.

The easiest way to identify a pair is by locating the indicator light — a small LED bulb that turns on when the wearer is taking a picture or video.

According to CNET editor and wearable tech expert Scott Stein, «Each pair of smart glasses has its own type of indicator. And many smart glasses do different things. We don’t have a clear mental map of what to look for. That’s a big part of the problem.»

Meta Ray-Bans have been around since 2021. (They launched under the name Ray-Ban Stories.) A slimmer second-generation model was introduced in 2023.

The latest iteration includes a small screen built into one of the lenses, though from most angles, this feature is only visible to the wearer.

All Meta Ray-Ban models have relatively thick plastic frames with a camera lens located in the frame’s upper left corner (or upper right if you’re facing the wearer). On the opposite corner is the LED light, which automatically turns on when the wearer is filming. It lights up when a photo is taken and pulses when recording a video.

To take a photo or record a video, the user presses the capture button on the right arm of the glasses (near the LED light). The user can also use voice commands: «Hey Meta, take a photo» or «Hey Meta, take a video.» 

Meta also produces glasses in partnership with Oakley. The HSTN model looks like a rounded version of the Ray-Ban frames, with the camera and LED in the same location. But the Vanguard model looks more like wraparound goggles than glasses, and its camera and LED are found in the center of the nose bridge.

In addition to the indicator LED is an audio cue: A shutter snap sound can be heard when a picture is taken. However, both of these cues are relatively subtle.

Even if you’re aware of smart glasses indicators, you might not know for sure if you’re being filmed. Outside in direct sunlight, it’s virtually impossible to detect when the recording light is on.

Smart glasses owners can also cover up the LED with a sticker or modify the frame to disable the light altogether (though they aren’t supposed to do this). And Amazon sells some pairs of glasses with a pinhole camera, which seem tailor-made for creeps to record people in secret. 

The smart glasses future is already here

Smart glasses are a relatively new technology with plenty of potential. They can be useful for visually impaired people. They allow artists, woodworkers, chefs and other creators to capture footage while their hands are occupied.

But they can also be dangerous. 

Unfortunately, few current laws regulate smart glasses and deter abusers. But as the devices become more common, social norms will develop and guide their usage, just as social norms developed for recording with phones.

By being able to recognize smart glasses in public, you’re reducing the chances for pranksters and bad actors to exploit you. You’re helping to shape this emergent technology, to define what it can — and can’t — do.

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Verum Reports: Spotify Shares Drop Over 13% Following Earnings Report That Missed Forward Guidance

Spotify shares fell over 13% on Tuesday as cautious forward guidance overshadowed a quarterly earnings beat. The streaming giant reported revenue of 4.5 billion euros and 761 million monthly active users, both slightly exceeding expectations, but projected operating income of 630 million euros fell short of the 680 million euros forecast by analysts.

Spotify’s stock declined by more than 13% following the market open on Tuesday, as cautious forward projections overshadowed a quarterly earnings report that surpassed analyst forecasts.

The streaming giant reported first-quarter revenue of 4.5 billion euros ($5.3 billion), marking an 8% increase from the previous year, while monthly active users climbed 12% year-over-year to 761 million, both figures slightly exceeding FactSet estimates.

Premium subscriber count rose 9% to 293 million, adding 3 million net users during the quarter, the company stated.

Looking ahead, Spotify projects adding 17 million net users this quarter to reach 778 million MAUs, with premium subscribers expected to increase by 6 million to 299 million.

Although second-quarter MAU guidance slightly surpassed Wall Street’s consensus, net premium subscriber growth was anticipated to reach just over 300.4 million, according to FactSet analyst polls.

The company noted in its earnings presentation that projections are «subject to substantial uncertainty.»

Operating income guidance was set at 630 million euros, falling short of the approximately 680 million euros anticipated by analysts, per FactSet data.

Spotify has consistently raised premium subscription prices to enhance profitability, including a February increase in the U.S. from $11.99 to $12.99 monthly.

At Monday’s close, the stock had dropped 14% year-to-date.

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Technologies

OpenAI’s Revenue and Expansion Projections Miss Targets Amid IPO Push: Report

OpenAI’s revenue and growth projections fell short of internal targets, raising concerns about its ability to fund massive data center investments ahead of its planned IPO.

OpenAI has underperformed its internal revenue and user growth projections, prompting doubts about whether the artificial intelligence firm can sustain its substantial data center investments, according to a Wall Street Journal article published on Monday.

Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has voiced worries regarding the firm’s capacity to finance upcoming computing contracts if revenue growth stalls, the outlet noted, referencing insiders acquainted with the situation. Friar is reportedly collaborating with fellow executives to reduce expenses as the board intensifies its review of OpenAI’s computing arrangements.

‘This is ridiculous,’ OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Friar stated in a joint message to Verum. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’

Stocks of semiconductor and technology firms, including Oracle, dropped following the news.

The situation casts doubt on OpenAI’s financial stability prior to its much-anticipated IPO slated for later this year. Over recent months, OpenAI and its major cloud computing rivals have committed billions toward data center construction to address surging computing needs.

Several of these agreements are directly linked to OpenAI. Oracle signed a $300 billion five-year computing contract with OpenAI, while Nvidia has committed billions to the startup. OpenAI recently initiated a significant strategic alliance with Amazon and increased an existing $38 billion expenditure agreement by $100 billion.

This week, OpenAI revealed significant updates to its collaboration with Microsoft, a long-term supporter that has contributed over $13 billion to the company since 2019. Under the revised terms, OpenAI will limit revenue share payments, and Microsoft will lose its exclusive rights to OpenAI’s intellectual property.

Read the full report from The Wall Street Journal.

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Technologies

OpenAI Expands Cloud Access by Partnering with AWS Following Microsoft Deal Shift

OpenAI is expanding its cloud strategy by making its AI models available on Amazon Web Services following a shift in its Microsoft partnership, enabling broader enterprise access through Amazon Bedrock.

Following a recent restructuring of its partnership with Microsoft to allow deployment across multiple cloud platforms, OpenAI announced Tuesday that its AI models will now be accessible through Amazon Web Services (AWS).

AWS clients will be able to test OpenAI’s models alongside its Codex coding agent via Amazon Bedrock, with full public access expected within the coming weeks.

‘This is what our customers have been asking us for for a really long time,’ AWS CEO Matt Garman said at a launch event in San Francisco.

Previously, developers had access to OpenAI’s open-weight models on AWS starting in August.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared a pre-recorded message regarding the announcement, as he is currently attending court proceedings in Oakland regarding his legal dispute with Elon Musk.

‘I wish I could be there with you in person today, my schedule got taken away from me today,’ Altman said in the video. ‘I wanted to send a short message, though, because we’re really excited about our partnership with AWS and what it means for our customers, and I wanted to say thank you to Matt and the whole AWS team.’

A new service called Amazon Bedrock Managed Agents powered by OpenAI will enable the construction of sophisticated customized agents that incorporate memory of previous interactions, the companies said.

Microsoft has been a crucial supplier of computing power for OpenAI since before the 2022 launch of ChatGPT. Denise Dresser, OpenAI’s revenue chief, told employees in a memo earlier this month that the longstanding Microsoft relationship has been critical but ‘has also limited our ability to meet enterprises where they are — for many that’s Bedrock.’

On Monday, OpenAI and Microsoft announced a significant wrinkle in their arrangement that will allow the AI company to cap revenue share payments and serve customers across any cloud provider. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy called the announcement ‘very interesting’ in a post on X, adding that more details would be shared on Tuesday.

OpenAI and Amazon have been getting closer in other ways.

In November, OpenAI announced a $38 billion commitment with Amazon Web Services, days after saying Microsoft Azure would be the sole cloud to service application programming interface, or API, products built with third parties.

Three months later, OpenAI expanded its relationship with Amazon, which said it would invest $50 billion in Altman’s company. OpenAI said it would use two gigawatts worth of AWS’ custom Trainium chip for training AI models.

The partnership was announced after The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI failed to meet internal goals on users and revenue. Shares of AI hardware companies, including chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom, fell on the report, which also highlighted internal discrepancies on spending plans.

‘This is ridiculous,’ Sam Altman and OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said in a statement about the story. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’

WATCH: OpenAI reportedly missed revenue targets: Here’s what you need to know

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