Meta Reportedly Working on a “Kill Switch” for Smart Glasses After Secret Filming Backlash

Meta appears to be working on a “kill switch” for its controversial smart glasses, according to reports. The company first introduced the glasses in partnership with Ray-Ban in 2021, featuring a front-facing camera that makes it easy to capture photos and videos. In recent months, the glasses have faced sustained criticism because they make it easy to film people without their knowledge or consent — backlash severe enough that the glasses have informally come to be called “pervert glasses.”
A new patent filed by Meta earlier this year and granted last week appears to show the company working on new ways to limit the video recording capability of the glasses. Although the patent was filed before the current controversy intensified, it may have been developed in response to ongoing concerns that smart glasses pose a threat to people’s privacy. The patent describes a feature for “consumer devices, including augmented reality devices.” While it does not directly name Meta’s smart glasses, several of its diagrams closely resemble glasses currently on the market. The patent describes a “hardware privacy mute circuit.”
This system would allow one or more sensors in the glasses to be disabled at the hardware level itself. According to the patent, this would provide “privacy controls that are difficult to tamper with and cannot be defeated through software-based attacks.” If implemented, the glasses would become physically incapable of recording — meaning the camera could not be reactivated through hacking or software interference. Meta’s current smart glasses already include features meant to limit the ability to capture photos and videos without people’s knowledge or consent, including a light on the front of the glasses that turns on when the camera is active. However, various guides available online have described several ways to conceal this light.