It’s not often we mention the Kardashian-Jenner clan here at Trusted Reviews, but Kylie Jenner’s surprise collaboration with Meta is all I’ve been thinking about.
In case you missed it, the youngest Jenner recently unveiled her own pair of Meta smart glasses. Coined Starfire, the oval-shaped specs are not only framed as a trendy choice but they’re fitted with Meta’s controversial features, including Meta AI and, most notably, the built-in 12MP camera.
Kylie’s collaboration with Meta is surprising and disappointing for so many reasons. Firstly, in a viral interview back in May, she recalled how scary and invasive growing up with paparazzi essentially stalking her for photos was.
Like her eldest sister, she’s known for keeping certain parts of her life private. For example, she hid her first pregnancy entirely from the media, and then later was reluctant to share photos of her second child online. This is completely understandable, as everyone has a right to privacy and absolutely shouldn’t feel any need to share images online.
With the above in mind, why on earth is Kylie therefore promoting smart glasses that have the power to take privacy away from pretty much anyone who has the bad luck of walking past a desperate aspiring content-creator-slash-creep?
Meta glasses have a terrible reputation for being a complete privacy nightmare, especially when it comes to women and girls’ safety. Back in May, the BBC reported that a woman was going about her day when a man approached her, without a camera or phone in hand. Instead, he was wearing smart glasses, and she had “no idea she was being filmed”.
The video was then posted online and viewed thousands of times, with the woman only finding out when a friend sent it to her.
While we don’t know the exact brand of smart glasses the man was wearing, Meta glasses all have a light that comes on when you’re filming, which technically should show people that they’re being filmed. However, and I’ve seen this for myself, that light literally couldn’t be any smaller. I would totally understand if someone passed off the light as a simple reflection or maybe even just a large scratch on the glasses.
That’s not the only worrying story. As uncovered by Wired last month, Meta has recently embedded face-recognition technology into the Meta AI app. While it’s not currently accessible by users, it will identify people captured by the glasses’ camera and alert the wearer when it recognises someone.
This has, unsurprisingly, caused concern. Experts who spoke to The Independent earlier this year feared this technology could pose a “direct and serious risk” to domestic abuse survivors as it could enable their abusers to locate and track (in other words, stalk) them, without them even knowing.
Plus, the fact that anyone who walks past a Meta glasses wearer’s image will be “cropped, indexed, and saved to a folder marked ‘pending’” is incredibly unnerving. What if your neighbour or the fellow commuter who always gets the same train as you is wearing Metas? Will your image be consistently stored for them to see? Will Meta actually note that you’re a frequent passer-by and attempt to identify you?
What are the merits of smart glasses?
I’ve had hands-on experience with both the Meta Ray-Bans 2 and the Oakley Meta Vanguard too. The latter I somewhat understand the purpose of more, as they’re used as sports glasses and enable you to capture your surroundings, get real-time stats and more without needing to reach for your phone. The Ray-Bans 2 and similar glasses, on the other hand, are a different story.
Yes, Meta glasses allow you to do interesting things like translate live, but so do AirPods and many of the best Android phones. And yes, the glasses also give you real-time answers with Meta AI without you needing to reach for your phone, but is anything really that urgent?
I admit, I just can’t get on board with smart glasses, and maybe it’s because I’m not the target audience. But once you factor in the high price, the limited style options and, most notably, the serious privacy concerns, the cons surely vastly outweigh the pros.
However, Kylie Jenner’s influence is undeniable, and Meta clearly knows this as she’s one of the most followed users on Instagram. Her collaboration with Meta is not only hypocritical from someone who publicly states how much she favours privacy, but it will undoubtedly attract a new demographic of younger users who grow to think it’s simply fine to film people without their knowledge.
Obviously (and very unfortunately) it’s not as easy to say “let’s just ban smart glasses”, but there undoubtedly needs to be more regulation of filming and sharing content online.
