Meta has confirmed that it disabled the camera on thousands of its AI-powered smart glasses after detecting that owners had physically tampered with the small indicator light that is meant to show when the glasses are recording. Some covered the LED with tape or stickers; others drilled it out entirely — modifications that make it possible to film people without their knowledge. The enforcement followed software updates rolled out over recent weeks and was first reported by Semafor.

The company says the affected devices amount to "less than one tenth of one percent" of all Meta AI glasses sold. Meta does not publish cumulative sales figures; Business Insider notes that 7 million pairs were sold in 2025 alone, which at that rate would correspond to roughly 7,000 manipulated devices — consistent with reports describing "thousands" of affected users.

Meta's glasses have always carried a capture LED meant to alert bystanders that a photo or video is being taken. An earlier protection disabled the camera only if the light was already blocked when recording began; some users then started filming normally and covered the LED a few seconds in. Meta says the latest update closes that loophole: recording is now deactivated whenever tampering is detected during capture. The consequence depends on the modification — a drilled-out LED means the camera never works again, while a covered light starts working again as soon as the cover is removed.

The crackdown follows growing concern about covert filming with camera glasses. CBS News reported in August on a woman who discovered a video of herself on social media after being recorded by a stranger wearing the glasses; a CBS producer who tested an earlier version of the protection last month found that it did not trigger when the light was covered after recording had begun. In parts of the internet, the devices have picked up the unflattering nickname "pervert glasses."

Meta frames the measures as a deterrent. "Companies that were offering LED tampering services have shut down because the camera now deactivates when tampering is detected," the company told CBS News. Alex Himel, Meta's vice president of wearables, said Meta would "keep rolling out updates like this to make sure the capture LED can reliably alert bystanders," adding that only "a tiny minority" of people tries to bypass the protections. Meta has also removed posts containing tampering instructions, taken down thousands of harassing "pickup artist" and prank posts, and blocked related search terms and hashtags. In parallel it has been running billboards in Los Angeles declaring the glasses are "designed for everyone — not just the people wearing them," while CTO Andrew Bosworth called them "the most privacy-forward camera" consumers can buy.

The episode highlights the central tension of the young camera-glasses category: a product built to record whatever is in front of the wearer can only succeed if the people around the wearer trust that they are not being recorded in secret.

Sources