Not op, but i would say there are definite use cases for smart glasses/"eyes”. Yes, corporations are pushing it without restraint or common sense because capitalism, but the technology in principle is not necessarily evil.
We as a society are just struggling with the implications and long term effects that start to show now of omnipresent surveillance capitalism, and the people with a camera on their face are the most obvious and easy target. That is not to say that humans are not scum who use these for creepy stuff, but there are cameras everywhere, location data, metadata, microphones, GPS, wifi, comms towers, not to mention the software on all those devices.
We are being crept on all the time, but the geek wearing one on their face is too far.
Understandable, but also hypocritical.
Given technological development, eventually we will have actual, invisible implants for these things. Smart eyes, enhanced ears. How will we cope with that? When you cant even tell that you are being actively livestreamed or recorded, or algorithmically analyzed for personal information?
That is not to say that humans are not scum who use these for creepy stuff, but there are cameras everywhere, location data, metadata, microphones, GPS, wifi, comms towers, not to mention the software on all those devices.
I also have an issue with these, and vehemently oppose them at every turn.
The human scum that develop, market and sell these things are also deserving of equal ire. The only difference is that they are the creators, not the direct end users, so they are harder to target with lawsuits due to the sheer size of the corporations and the amount of money being pushed into lobbying for their use (the “but its in the name of public safety!"/ “won’t someone think of the children!” Crowd are always used by these companies to astroturf public opinion through browbeating etc)
Where’s the hypocrisy? I’ve never suggested that these companies get a free pass to spy on people. Just because I’m verbal in my opposition to the use of permanently active cameras disguised as glasses does not mean I am not opposed to the panopticon we’ve been forced to grow up in.
Given technological development, eventually we will have actual, invisible implants for these things. Smart eyes, enhanced ears. How will we cope with that? When you cant even tell that you are being actively livestreamed or recorded, or algorithmically analyzed for personal information?
So by that logic, just because it might happen in the future, we shouldn’t fight against it and work towards getting the rights to walk the streets without surveillance by unknown agents written into law to protect our privacy?
To me that reads the same way as “Why should we do anything to stop climate change when the air we’re breathing is slowly becoming toxic? We’ll all be dead in a couple of decades anyway.” (Hyperbolic but along the same line of a defeatist “what’s the point in making things better now when they’re going to get worse?” arguing.)
I’m not necessarily arguing in favor of them, it just seems to me that we as people have found a convenient scapegoat by venting our frustration on the end user, while the real problem is systemic.
As for the future hypothetical, that was meant as a thought excercise on what is likely to come, and how that will fit in with this social climate. It is only gonna get worse from an anti-creep point of view, and seeking to remain anonymous by not getting recorded seems a losing battle. We should be focusing on countermeasures instead, so regardless of if we know the camera is there, we can feel safe(r).
I’m not using the people (i.e. the people spoken about in the original post that we are talking on) using this technology as a scapegoat.
I will happily say that without companies producing these privacy breaching products, the people that misuse them would have one less avenue to exploit and violate other’s privacy.
If you want a thought exercise, instead of “Creeps will use them anyway.” How about “If there are laws put in place to protect people’s right to privacy, creeps would be less likely (or at least less able) to commit these offenses with impunity.” Which in my mind is a far better option than “we promise our always-on cameras aren’t used for nefarious means, you can trust us because we are the company that sells the creep glasses.”
The countermeasures you mention- other than laws preventing their use what are they?
This isn’t a matter of feeling safe “even if we’re being recorded” it’s a matter of “being safe because we are not being recorded by those with immoral intentions.”
To put it in simpler terms with a bit of analogy -Better to keep the gun away from the toddler than wait for them to blow their shit smoove off with it.
I am certainly in favor of laws to protect the people, but i suspect as is already the case the legislation will be unable to keep up with technological developments, not to mention nefarious actors lobbying that legislation.
For countermeasures i was already mentally in the realm of cyberpunk, so probably equally technological solutions? Identity spoofers, ECM, if i recall correctly many cameras are vulnerable to infrared? Things in that vein.
I’m not talking about cyberpunk, I’m talking about NOW. This is no fantasy scifi scenario, this is reality.
If we do not fight for our rights tooth and nail the same way people fought for civil rights, then those lobbyists and corporations will have nothing to stop them from making the world a shittier place.
These things are being used today. We need to show the powers that be that this is unacceptable today. Otherwise we as a civilisation will sleepwalk our way right into antihuman technofascism.
We live in a Cyberpunk scenario. Except with less neon. I also get the impression that you keep considering me opposed to what you want, when in fact i am just as hostile towards digital surveillance as the next guy.
I just dont think that kicking a nerd with smart glasses in the face is how we protect ourselves meaningfully from that, and am arguing generally from that position. If anything we need to develop technological solutions to what is a technological attack on us, when we cant seem to agree as a society on putting capitalism to the torch. Legislation wont protect you (yet 🤞), attacking offending people wont fix the problem, so the only logical course is to get creative about diy solutions.
That being said, building a fucking fake online identity that algorithms will associate with your face / reflective clothing or infrared stuff can hardly be considered futuristic or “cyberpunk”. Just buy some and off you go
I just dont think that kicking a nerd with smart glasses in the face is how we protect ourselves meaningfully from that, and am arguing generally from that position.
Where have I argued for violence against these people?
My standpoint has been prevention of their production and use, not violent attacks on their users. Me talking on the internet about how the people that use them are cunts is not a violent attack.
The users are useful idiots paying for and supporting a product throigh ignorance, or wilfully intending to use them for imoral reasons.
If anything we need to develop technological solutions to what is a technological attack on us
Yeah? When? In a few years time when it becomes so prevalent that it’s inescapable?
This is what I mean by it is NOW, not some cyberpunk fantasy bullshit, we’re living it, there are no products to protect you, only ones that make you more obviously trying to obfuscate your identity, which works counter to its intent by highlighting you as someone for further investigation.
You started this conversation by saying “i would say there are definite use cases for smart glasses/“eyes”. Yes, corporations are pushing it without restraint or common sense because capitalism, but the technology in principle is not necessarily evil.” Which in principle I agree with, cameras themselves are not evil, but the people wearing facebook-owned cameras disguised as glasses DESIGNED to record everything discretely enough to not be immediately noticeable, are not morally upstanding people and should know that they are being mocked.
I am arguing from the point of ‘We as people should not have to use anti paparazzi reflective coverings every day just so that these fuckers can wear their pervert glasses without challenge.’ The same way we should not have to wear prismatic face shields to prevent AI facial recognition.
Good luck building a ‘fake online identity’ that isn’t immediately associated with your personal information, because thanks to the ability of AI systems to analyse huge swathes of data, your way of typing, the things you interact with, and your internet traffic can be easily traced back to you as a human. This is a well documented fact, and can be/is used to create fake profiles that use your exact tone of speech and your mannerisms indistinguishable from your ‘real’ words.
… Okay. Honestly i’m just tired of this pointless conversation where we both have our convictions and are fruitlessly arguing against a wall. I’m not even sure what we are talking about any more so i will just concede, and take comfort in the fact that you feel validated today.
As a side note, i hope you are spending as much time and effort arguing with people not actually on your side.
LOL, I did the same. I just went back to this thread by accident and saw that you dealt with the same thing I did. It’s wild when people argue so strongly for the same thing that you believe. It’s like forced outrage or something.
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Not op, but i would say there are definite use cases for smart glasses/"eyes”. Yes, corporations are pushing it without restraint or common sense because capitalism, but the technology in principle is not necessarily evil.
We as a society are just struggling with the implications and long term effects that start to show now of omnipresent surveillance capitalism, and the people with a camera on their face are the most obvious and easy target. That is not to say that humans are not scum who use these for creepy stuff, but there are cameras everywhere, location data, metadata, microphones, GPS, wifi, comms towers, not to mention the software on all those devices.
We are being crept on all the time, but the geek wearing one on their face is too far. Understandable, but also hypocritical.
Given technological development, eventually we will have actual, invisible implants for these things. Smart eyes, enhanced ears. How will we cope with that? When you cant even tell that you are being actively livestreamed or recorded, or algorithmically analyzed for personal information?
I also have an issue with these, and vehemently oppose them at every turn.
The human scum that develop, market and sell these things are also deserving of equal ire. The only difference is that they are the creators, not the direct end users, so they are harder to target with lawsuits due to the sheer size of the corporations and the amount of money being pushed into lobbying for their use (the “but its in the name of public safety!"/ “won’t someone think of the children!” Crowd are always used by these companies to astroturf public opinion through browbeating etc)
Where’s the hypocrisy? I’ve never suggested that these companies get a free pass to spy on people. Just because I’m verbal in my opposition to the use of permanently active cameras disguised as glasses does not mean I am not opposed to the panopticon we’ve been forced to grow up in.
So by that logic, just because it might happen in the future, we shouldn’t fight against it and work towards getting the rights to walk the streets without surveillance by unknown agents written into law to protect our privacy?
To me that reads the same way as “Why should we do anything to stop climate change when the air we’re breathing is slowly becoming toxic? We’ll all be dead in a couple of decades anyway.” (Hyperbolic but along the same line of a defeatist “what’s the point in making things better now when they’re going to get worse?” arguing.)
I’m not necessarily arguing in favor of them, it just seems to me that we as people have found a convenient scapegoat by venting our frustration on the end user, while the real problem is systemic.
As for the future hypothetical, that was meant as a thought excercise on what is likely to come, and how that will fit in with this social climate. It is only gonna get worse from an anti-creep point of view, and seeking to remain anonymous by not getting recorded seems a losing battle. We should be focusing on countermeasures instead, so regardless of if we know the camera is there, we can feel safe(r).
I’m not using the people (i.e. the people spoken about in the original post that we are talking on) using this technology as a scapegoat.
I will happily say that without companies producing these privacy breaching products, the people that misuse them would have one less avenue to exploit and violate other’s privacy.
If you want a thought exercise, instead of “Creeps will use them anyway.” How about “If there are laws put in place to protect people’s right to privacy, creeps would be less likely (or at least less able) to commit these offenses with impunity.” Which in my mind is a far better option than “we promise our always-on cameras aren’t used for nefarious means, you can trust us because we are the company that sells the creep glasses.”
For your reading pleasure;
https://www.svd.se/a/K8nrV4/metas-ai-smart-glasses-and-data-privacy-concerns-workers-say-we-see-everything
https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/05/meta-sued-over-ai-smartglasses-privacy-concerns-after-workers-reviewed-nudity-sex-and-other-footage/
https://natlawreview.com/article/smart-glasses-and-privacy-wearable-surveillance-and-disclosure-issues
https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ice-facial-surveillance-glasses
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/immigration-officers-meta-ai-glasses-b2937382.html
The countermeasures you mention- other than laws preventing their use what are they?
This isn’t a matter of feeling safe “even if we’re being recorded” it’s a matter of “being safe because we are not being recorded by those with immoral intentions.”
To put it in simpler terms with a bit of analogy -Better to keep the gun away from the toddler than wait for them to blow their shit smoove off with it.
I am certainly in favor of laws to protect the people, but i suspect as is already the case the legislation will be unable to keep up with technological developments, not to mention nefarious actors lobbying that legislation.
For countermeasures i was already mentally in the realm of cyberpunk, so probably equally technological solutions? Identity spoofers, ECM, if i recall correctly many cameras are vulnerable to infrared? Things in that vein.
I’m not talking about cyberpunk, I’m talking about NOW. This is no fantasy scifi scenario, this is reality.
If we do not fight for our rights tooth and nail the same way people fought for civil rights, then those lobbyists and corporations will have nothing to stop them from making the world a shittier place.
These things are being used today. We need to show the powers that be that this is unacceptable today. Otherwise we as a civilisation will sleepwalk our way right into antihuman technofascism.
We live in a Cyberpunk scenario. Except with less neon. I also get the impression that you keep considering me opposed to what you want, when in fact i am just as hostile towards digital surveillance as the next guy.
I just dont think that kicking a nerd with smart glasses in the face is how we protect ourselves meaningfully from that, and am arguing generally from that position. If anything we need to develop technological solutions to what is a technological attack on us, when we cant seem to agree as a society on putting capitalism to the torch. Legislation wont protect you (yet 🤞), attacking offending people wont fix the problem, so the only logical course is to get creative about diy solutions.
That being said, building a fucking fake online identity that algorithms will associate with your face / reflective clothing or infrared stuff can hardly be considered futuristic or “cyberpunk”. Just buy some and off you go
Where have I argued for violence against these people?
My standpoint has been prevention of their production and use, not violent attacks on their users. Me talking on the internet about how the people that use them are cunts is not a violent attack.
The users are useful idiots paying for and supporting a product throigh ignorance, or wilfully intending to use them for imoral reasons.
Yeah? When? In a few years time when it becomes so prevalent that it’s inescapable?
This is what I mean by it is NOW, not some cyberpunk fantasy bullshit, we’re living it, there are no products to protect you, only ones that make you more obviously trying to obfuscate your identity, which works counter to its intent by highlighting you as someone for further investigation.
You started this conversation by saying “i would say there are definite use cases for smart glasses/“eyes”. Yes, corporations are pushing it without restraint or common sense because capitalism, but the technology in principle is not necessarily evil.” Which in principle I agree with, cameras themselves are not evil, but the people wearing facebook-owned cameras disguised as glasses DESIGNED to record everything discretely enough to not be immediately noticeable, are not morally upstanding people and should know that they are being mocked.
I am arguing from the point of ‘We as people should not have to use anti paparazzi reflective coverings every day just so that these fuckers can wear their pervert glasses without challenge.’ The same way we should not have to wear prismatic face shields to prevent AI facial recognition.
Good luck building a ‘fake online identity’ that isn’t immediately associated with your personal information, because thanks to the ability of AI systems to analyse huge swathes of data, your way of typing, the things you interact with, and your internet traffic can be easily traced back to you as a human. This is a well documented fact, and can be/is used to create fake profiles that use your exact tone of speech and your mannerisms indistinguishable from your ‘real’ words.
… Okay. Honestly i’m just tired of this pointless conversation where we both have our convictions and are fruitlessly arguing against a wall. I’m not even sure what we are talking about any more so i will just concede, and take comfort in the fact that you feel validated today.
As a side note, i hope you are spending as much time and effort arguing with people not actually on your side.
LOL, I did the same. I just went back to this thread by accident and saw that you dealt with the same thing I did. It’s wild when people argue so strongly for the same thing that you believe. It’s like forced outrage or something.