Hooson says that, while some of the comments left on his video<\/a> were \u201csavage\u201d, he is fully in support of their message. \u201cIt definitely caught me off guard. It was a real ignorant move,\u201d he says, adding that he hates that the glasses are being used against \u201cwomen mainly being filmed against their knowledge\u201d. The backlash was even coming from those close to home. \u201cFunnily enough, my wife predicted it. She was going to post a banterous comment in a similar tone to the others but she didn\u2019t press send.\u201d<\/p>\n After posting the video, Hooson, who shares<\/a> his passion for home design and cycling to his 224,000 Instagram followers, says he lost a \u201cgood 50 to 100\u201d followers. He called the term \u201cpervert glasses\u201d a \u201cdefence mechanism\u201d to dissuade people from using them. \u201cIf everybody gets round that they are pervert glasses, which evidently they have, then it\u2019s a really easy way of limiting sales and the usage of them,\u201d he says. \u201cPeople do not need any more of their privacy stripped away. I\u2019m fully in support of that.\u201d<\/p>\n His interest in the glasses, which he received at a PR event, was far more innocent. \u201cI saw [chefs at] high-end restaurants filming themselves with the glasses on, showing off their process. It was stupid, poetic and beautiful to watch. I wanted to have a play about and show people the things that I enjoy doing,\u201d he says, adding that it is very hard to capture a point of view (POV) angle otherwise. \u201cIt was intended as a simple way of capturing a human POV of my morning coffee routine or my fast cycling descents. I think that\u2019s vastly different from somebody going into the centre of Soho and asking somebody a divisive question and clipping them up for views without their knowledge,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n But, for now, it\u2019s not worth using the glasses. \u201cWould I rather just not have that little fun point-of-view shot for the greater good? Yes, I would definitely get rid of them,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n While the glasses have proved unpopular with some online, they sold 7m pairs in 2025 alone. Meta says the tiny, flashing LED light that activates on the glasses will let people know when they are being filmed, but there have been multiple instances<\/a> of people complaining they have been videoed without prior knowledge.<\/p>\n In one instance, a woman told the BBC a man had recorded her, and then demanded money<\/a> to remove the videos from social media. Another woman described being recorded<\/a> during sexual encounters without her consent. Last month, police in Scotland said they were investigating a far-right TikToker<\/a> who allegedly filmed himself making sexualised comments to young women and telling a Sikh shopkeeper about a plan to \u201cbreed out the white race\u201d without their knowledge.<\/p>\n Restaurants, theatres and pubs in the UK, including Wetherspoons, have even joined in on the backlash, banning the Meta glasses<\/a> over privacy fears.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a>Free newsletter | Every weekday<\/p>\n Sign up to First Edition<\/p>\n Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what\u2019s happening and why it matters<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Deena Lang<\/a>, a parenting influencer, first got her hands on a pair of the glasses from Meta. \u201cI didn\u2019t really know what they were capable of,\u201d she says, but she thought they could be a cool gadget for her son. This was especially true as the family were heading to Europe for a trip and the glasses could, very usefully, translate foreign text live.<\/p>\n But things took a turn when Lang wore them to a cooking class. After looking at the footage she had captured, she says she was \u201chorrified because I just kept catching people giving me dirty looks or side-eye. For me, that was a real awakening.\u201d She posted the footage<\/a> to her 110,000 followers on Instagram with faces blurred out to act as a \u201ccautionary tale\u201d. She was soon flooded with comments criticising the glasses.<\/p>\n She says she felt \u201ca lot of embarrassment\u201d for using them in a public place in the first instance but understood where the criticism had come from, especially after looking at how they are used in nefarious ways. \u201cI still think they can be used for good. People who are blind said the glasses had helped them navigate life better but the negatives just far outweigh the positives,\u201d she says. \u201cI heard from some people who were dancers that men were invading their privacy and wearing them into the clubs. Others said they caught their waxers wearing them during appointments.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t believe that we are in an age where technology like this can exist without people with bad intentions making use of it.\u201d<\/p>\n As for now, the glasses remain out of sight. \u201cThey\u2019re in a drawer,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n A Meta spokesperson said: \u201cWe designed our AI glasses with privacy and safety features built in from the start \u2013 informed by engagement with safety experts, including women\u2019s safety organisations. Our glasses have always had an LED light that activates whenever someone captures a photo or video for their gallery.<\/p>\n \u201cThey also feature tamper detection technology, and we are updating the glasses to disable the camera if they detect the LED was physically tampered with or destroyed. No other kind of camera has done this and we\u2019re proud to lead the industry forward.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782653358_662_1000.jpg\")
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