A cyclist filming himself making coffee at the Tour de France finale would once have seemed an entirely unremarkable piece of social media content. But when Oliver Hooson posted the clip, filmed using Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses, the reaction online was swift and hostile, according to the Guardian.
Hooson's experience is far from unique. Meta's smart glasses, styled to look like ordinary sunglasses but fitted with a built-in camera, microphone and AI assistant, have become the target of a growing consumer backlash. Wearers report being shouted at, mocked online and, in some cases, confronted physically.
From gadget of the year to 'pervert glasses'
The devices have sold well. Meta and its manufacturing partner EssilorLuxottica reportedly sold around seven to 7.5 million pairs in 2025 alone, after reaching a cumulative two million sales across 2023 and 2024. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg claimed on an earnings call that the glasses were "a bigger hit sooner than we expected" and that demand was "still outpacing our ability to build them."
Yet commercial success has not translated into public acceptance. The wearables have become so alienating that many people have taken to simply referring to the shades as "pervert glasses," echoing the derision once reserved for Google Glass, whose wearers were dubbed "Glassholes" over a decade ago. Engadget spoke with five creators, photographers and others who were once enthusiastic about the glasses about how public perception has changed their habits, with a Florida-based creator telling the outlet that "a lot of men and their behaviors have ruined this product."
“"I saw all these comments about if you wear those glasses you're basically a predator or a creep, and I was like, 'Oh, maybe it's not a good idea to have those,'" freelance video producer Will Kujawa told Engadget.”
The hostility has occasionally turned physical. A New York subway rider accused a woman of breaking his Meta smart glasses in a video that has since garnered millions of views, with much of the online reaction siding against the wearer rather than the woman who broke them.
European regulators take a closer look
The reputational damage is now being matched by regulatory pressure, particularly in Europe, where data protection law is stricter than in the United States. Several European countries, including France, Germany, and the Netherlands, are considering banning Meta's smart glasses as regulators examine whether the devices comply with privacy laws. In France, privacy regulator CNIL warned in May that smart glasses could present a significant risk of normalising omnipresent surveillance. In Germany, the relevant privacy law states that it is illegal to possess or make available technology which by its form resembles another object, meaning cameras may not be hidden or disguised as everyday items.
Ireland's Data Protection Commission, which is Meta's lead regulator across the EU because the company's European headquarters are in Dublin, questioned whether a tiny LED indicator was enough to alert people they were being filmed, prompting Meta and EssilorLuxottica to enlarge the light and add a blinking pattern.
Finn Lützow-Holm Myrstad, director of digital policy at the Norwegian Consumer Council, has argued that "there's no way that people can, in a meaningful way, consent and understand what they consent to if they're being filmed," adding that European authorities have "not been bold enough yet to use all the tools at their disposal" against the technology.
The scrutiny has intensified following a separate investigation by Swedish newspapers, which found that workers at a Kenya-based subcontractor had been reviewing footage from customers' glasses, including sensitive content such as nudity and people using the toilet, prompting a lawsuit against Meta.
For now, the glasses remain a runaway commercial success even as their reputation among bystanders sours. Whether European regulators ultimately restrict the devices, or Meta is forced to redesign them further, the dispute reflects a broader tension in wearable technology: a camera that looks exactly like an ordinary accessory challenges the basic assumption that people can tell when they are being watched.
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