Women targeted by hidden-camera smart glasses spark online abuse, prompting bans and calls for regulation

e-Enfance reports dozens of women secretly filmed with camera-equipped smart glasses, mainly Meta models, leading to misogynistic harassment online, while Oslo schools have banned the devices.

The French NGO e-Enfance, which operates the 3018 national helpline for digital-violence victims, recorded roughly twenty incidents since the start of the year in which women were filmed without permission using camera-equipped smart glasses, most of them Meta models. According to the association, a typical pattern involves a content creator approaching a woman or girl in a public setting, recording her covertly with the glasses, and then posting the clip on TikTok, Instagram or X to provoke embarrassment; the videos quickly attract thousands of viewers.

The exposed individuals have been subjected to misogynistic insults, mockery and even death threats, with one teenager filmed at the Fête de la musique in Paris receiving such abuse. Although TikTok removed several of the offending videos after e-Enfance’s intervention, many were reposted and the creators declined to delete them. e-Enfance’s director Véronique Béchu urges that the use of these devices in public spaces be more tightly regulated from the design stage and that platforms enforce a zero-tolerance approach toward repeat offenders.

In a related move, Oslo’s municipal government announced a ban on smart glasses in all schools, citing concerns over children becoming data-collection subjects for Meta. The glasses can capture media, make calls, translate text, project AR overlays, and may soon include facial-recognition capabilities.