Are You Being Secretly Recorded? Here's How to Spot Smart Camera Glasses in the Wild

Smart glasses with built-in cameras let you take snapshots and get AI-powered information like translations without taking out your phone, but there's a dark side to them. They're easily abused by pick-up artists, clout chasers, and outright stalkers who have started using them to secretly take photos and videos of women without their consent. It's creepy, it's disturbing, and it can be hard to recognize at a glanceNow, I'm not a creep, but I know smart glasses better than just about anyone. I've been covering smart glasses since they first hit the market and have tested and reviewed many, many pairs. That experience means I can help you spot the warning signs. Keep reading for my best tips on how to tell if a date—or even a stranger—might be secretly recording you.The Creepy New Trend in Smart GlassesThe Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses offer good image quality, as seen in these nature and pet photos(Credit: Andrew Gebhart)Smart glasses offer a wide range of capabilities, but you should be particularly aware of pairs with built-in cameras. The most popular, prominent, and least noticeable ones are Meta’s smart glasses. Meta has worked with both Oakley and Ray-Ban to make fashionable glasses with a built-in AI assistant, speakers for audio, and, yes, cameras. Those cameras have gotten surprisingly good recently, too; the second-generation Ray-Ban Meta and the Oakley Meta HSTN can capture 3K video and 12MP stills. They’re great for casual snapshots and video clips with friends, but that also means they’re useful to losers seeking clout.Because Oakley and Ray-Ban designed the frames for these Meta-powered smart glasses, they're available with multiple designs and colors, with both transparent and tinted lenses. The technology inside is so small and discreet that they look and feel almost exactly like regular glasses. There is a giveaway, though, and once you learn how to spot it, you’ll wonder how you didn’t see it before.Spot the Hidden Camera LensesRay-Ban Meta smart glasses, with a camera lens on the right and a recording indicator LED on the left(Credit: Andrew Gebhart)The cameras on both Ray-Ban and Oakley versions of the Meta smart glasses are located on the end pieces of the frames, those bits on the upper-left and upper-right corners of the front that jut out to conceal the hinges. This is a popular spot for shiny little embellishments on traditional, non-smart glasses. Maybe you even own a pair of glasses with tiny diamonds, chrome ovals, or something…