Privacy Backlash Explodes Against Meta's Smart Glasses
With nearly 70% of the market, "Meta wants its smart glasses to be a big hit," writes the Los Angeles Times. But after some users found ways to disable the light that warns people they're being filmed, "the high-tech specs have also turned into a liability, as some are calling the gadget 'pervert glasses...'"
Some people are using the glasses — which look like a pair of regular spectacles — to record people without their knowledge and publish the videos on social media. The users secretly videotape and share what happens when they try to pick up women. Now, a growing number of people are worried they could be covertly recorded at the gym or even during sex. The backlash has prompted Meta to update its glasses to address privacy concerns, and some places have banned them, adding to the angst surrounding technology that's rapidly evolving...
Concern about the glasses has exploded as more videos of interactions with people who don't know they're being recorded go viral on social media. On Instagram, some videos depict people getting approached in malls and grocery stores and on college campuses and sidewalks. While the videos are portrayed as jokes, the people filmed don't appear to know they're being recorded and sometimes seem uncomfortable, telling the strangers to leave them alone or stop harassing them. The outcry has spread beyond social media, with comedian Jimmy Kimmel calling the Meta devices "pervert glasses" on national television and singer Lorde telling concertgoers that smart glasses are "not sexy..."
Instagram, which is owned by Meta, has been disabling accounts and taking down some of these pickup or prank videos for violating the platform's rules against harassment and bullying... Businesses are making their own calls about smart glasses. The 5 Point Cafe in Seattle, which banned Google Glass in the past, has banned Meta glasses from its diner and dive bar. "Leave your Meta-SpyBan Display at home, they are officially Ray-Ban-ned from all of our restaurants. We serve privacy, not side-eye surveillance," a 2025 Instagram post from the business states.
An Android app that warns people if they're being recorded has roughly 110,000 downloads in the last six months, according to the article. The app's creator says it's a "social problem" that "we don't value privacy, that we feel entitled to use others for our entertainment or our private gain, and technology amplifies that."
The American Civil Liberties Union and more than 70 organizations even sent a letter urging Meta to promise they'd leave facial recognition features out of their smart glasses, according to the article. But a Meta spokesperson said "no final decision has been made."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
NEC tests parking tech that only starts charging once you exit your car
PLUS: Infosys to wear Crocs for a decade; Fujifilm may quit printers; 2GW datacenter debuts in western China; and more!
DAVID BARRETT: Yet more proof that everything Mahmood touches implodes
Top police officers warned how the Government's controversial early release plans would delight offenders. Today, we have evidence of how disastrous Labour's policy is likely to be.
AI Reviews Bring 'New Normal' to Linux Release Candidates: Lots of Bug Fixes
Linux Torvalds expects Linux 7.2 should be released next weekend "unless something really bad
pops up," Torvalds said while announcing today's release candidate.
But there's something interesting about Linux 7.2-rc7, writes Phoronix. "By the time the Linux kernel typically hits a -rc7 release things have usually settled quite well. But in today's world of AI/LLM coding/review agents, the kernel activity continues at an all-time high."
Tons of bug fixes continued to trickle in across the kernel spectrum for all sorts of issues. The HWMON hardware monitoring subsystem saw several critical and high severity bug fixes, on the memory management side was a nasty race condition leading to a use-after-free in the kernel for the past eight years, Btrfs restored its fixup worker infrastructure to deal with silent data loss, lots of AI patches in the networking realm, and the kernel was patched for the Safe RET Interrupt Vulnerability.
Linus Torvalds wrote in the 7.2-rc7 announcement:
"Another week, another -rc.
I can't say that I'm exactly thrilled about the size of this all, but
it is what it is: the new normal with a lot of fixes, many of them due
to review by various AI tools.
And nothing looks particularly scary per se — it's just that there's a
lot here. Most of it is fairly small, although we have a couple of
larger diffs: s390/zcrypt fixes stand out in the diffstat, and so does
btrfs bringing back the fixup worker infrastructure. And some
netfilter ipset fixes.
But aside from a few places like that, most of this is just lots of
tiny fixes. It's pretty much spread all over — drivers (gpu, sound,
networking, you name it), filesystems, core networking, arch code...
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
How thousands of firms, from car washes to vape shops and kebab takeaways, have imported migrants on 'skilled worker' visas - and why our bloated welfare system is adding to the scandal
As fine a job the boys at Kalar Car Wash do on this industrial estate close to Huddersfield town centre in West Yorkshire, one would be hard-pressed to describe their work as skilled labour.
Labour accused of another pro-trade union stitch-up over new plans that 'drive up costs for businesses'
Labour has been accused of yet another pro-trade union stitch-up - after businesses seeking government contracts were hit with fresh demands.
CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews weekend TV: How Elvis's bullying, slimy manager owed millions to the Las Vegas mob
Elvis Presley is ancient history. Next year sees the 50th anniversary of his death. The King of Rock 'n' Roll is closer to the era of silent cinema than to us.
Facemasks are the latest beauty trend sweeping the celebrity world - but can you tell which famous face is underneath?
While Hollywood's elite might not be getting any younger, luckily for them the science behind tightening, brightening, sculpting and hydrating beauty treatments is advancing every day.
Want to keep strawberries fresh? This'll kelp...
If you're looking for a way to avoid your strawberries going off, here's an unexpected suggestion.
The last cancer taboo and how it ruined my sex life. This is the little-known side effect of my life-saving treatment that other survivors need to know about to save their marriages: SARAH CAWOOD
Being diagnosed with cancer makes you imagine all sorts of scenarios about the future. But, I must admit, questioning whether I was a 'proper wife' to my husband Andy wasn't something I imagined.
Russia rains down more than 200 missiles and drones on Ukraine... but are NATO's Baltic states next in Putin's sights?
More than 200 missiles and drones hit Ukraine, which is running short of vital air defences, in a blitz on Saturday night.
The ultimate tribute: Whitney Houston is honoured with new Barbie doll
The late Whitney Houston is to receive one of her biggest tributes yet - in the form of her very own Barbie doll .
Margaret Thatcher backed secret plan to wipe out cocaine crops by unleashing swarms of leaf-eating moths over drug cartel plantations
The scheme would have seen thousands of insects bred by scientists at Porton Down in Wiltshire and air-dropped from helicopters over coca fields in Peru.
RIP Matthew Jukes, the star of the wine world whose dazzling palate delighted Mail readers for decades: RICHARD KAY
His sudden death while on holiday in Portugal aged 58 has shocked an industry where he was a veritable star.
Flock Accused of Reactivating Its Cameras Without Notifying a Town
A Massachusetts newspaper reports that officials from the town of Littleton (population: 10,141) "claim that five of Littletonâ(TM)s Flock Safety cameras were switched back on by the company without informing the town..."
Littleton had temporarily disabled the cameras earlier this year, according to the article, but upon discovering the cameras were still active, city officials say they directed the Town Counsel "to initiate cancellation of the contract with Flock Safety and directed the Town Administrator to coordinate the removal of the six cameras on public ways" with the Department of Public Works.
Ironically, it's the same Massachusetts town that last year was breached by a Chinese-state-sponsored hacking group for over 300 days.
Flock has also considered dashcams installed in hundreds of thousands Uber, Lyft, and delivery drivers' vehicles "to scan license plates those drivers travelled passed," reports 404 Media, "essentially turning Uber and Lyft drivers into roaming surveillance vehicles, according to a Flock presentation shared with 404 Media...
404 Media first revealed the intended partnership last August when multiple sources provided information on the plan."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Lucy Powell vows vocational 'revolution' as 58k teenagers receive no results after dropping out of education
She said she will focus on technical and vocational pathways to tackle the number of young people not in employment, education or training (Neet).
Love Island's Molly Smith and Tom Clare share insight into the 'stress' of planning their Mallorcan wedding after raucous legal ceremony finished with best man 'passing out'
The couple tied the knot in Manchester's Stockport Town Hall last month, and are set to exchange their vows again in a grand ceremony in Spain in two weeks time.
Labour changes to online GP bookings put patients' safety at risk, doctors warn
Patient safety has been put at risk after Labour changes to GP appointment bookings led to fewer face-to-face consultations, doctors have warned.
Face-to-face GP appointments slashed and patient safety at risk after Labour imposed changes to booking process, doctors warn
Since October 1 last year, all GP practices in England must accept queries and booking requests from an Online form from 8.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday.
Britain's ten most unexpected defibrillator locations from Snowdon to Shetland revealed
From Lundy Island, where there are more puffins than people, to the summit of Mount Snowdon in Wales, the pictures show off some of the most unexpected places that the kit lives.