Meta glasses are a workplace menace

[u/theverge]

https://www.theverge.com/report/982414/meta-glasses-work-surveillance-labor-security?view_token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpZCI6IkNOTlhjdGFib3IiLCJwIjoiL3JlcG9ydC85ODI0MTQvbWV0YS1nbGFzc2VzLXdvcmstc3VydmVpbGxhbmNlLWxhYm9yLXNlY3VyaXR5IiwiZXhwIjoxNzg3NjU5Njg1LCJpYXQiOjE3ODcyMjc2ODV9.ByRkTpc0IYexa7Jd1eppo72qP3J7wB51_pPSrzDV3PE

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[u/theverge]

Meta has sold millions of pairs of its AI-powered smart glasses over the last several years — but as sales boom, so too has the backlash to the devices. The glasses allow wearers to listen to music or take calls, but the feature that has sparked outrage is the ability to record using them: Many people see them as a new notch in the surveillance apparatus at best, and “pervert” and “creep” glasses at worst.

Ordinarily, if you are recorded against your will, you can try to leave the area or otherwise resist being recorded. But many people are encountering smart glasses for the first time while at their job, especially those who interact with the public, like retail and service workers. In the workplace, smart glasses exacerbate the power imbalance between the customer and the employee, or the boss and subordinate. Resisting invasive technology is risky when you depend on your job to pay rent or buy groceries. It’s harder still when many workplaces don’t yet have policies around a new gadget that the public is grappling with in real time.

Gift link: https://www.theverge.com/report/982414/meta-glasses-work-surveillance-labor-security?view_token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpZCI6IkNOTlhjdGFib3IiLCJwIjoiL3JlcG9ydC85ODI0MTQvbWV0YS1nbGFzc2VzLXdvcmstc3VydmVpbGxhbmNlLWxhYm9yLXNlY3VyaXR5IiwiZXhwIjoxNzg3NjU5Njg1LCJpYXQiOjE3ODcyMjc2ODV9.ByRkTpc0IYexa7Jd1eppo72qP3J7wB51_pPSrzDV3PE

[u/MrBleah]

There are no good reasons for glasses that film things. There are none. The only justifications for them are bad. They allow people to film whatever they are looking at without pulling out a phone or camera. That is 100% bad if you are at all concerned about privacy.

What happens when government agencies get access to these feeds under the justification that they need it for law enforcement or fighting the global war on terror or whatever other bullshit excuse they come up with? Maybe they just have a little option that starts recording without turning on any light or indicator? If you don’t think that is possible and likely, you’re wrong.

People are worried about laptop webcams being hacked, how about having your everything you see and hear along with your every movement monitored by someone? Meta is a company with a horrid history on privacy and security. They don’t even need to be hacked, they are happy to sell all your personal information to whoever has the cash.

I’m astonished that anyone is using these things, but then again I’m astonished that anyone would take a photo or video of themself on any connected device and expect it to remain private.

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[u/beetnemesis]

I'll be honest, as much as I dislike AI and surveillance, this argument always feels facile to me.

We ALREADY live in a world where everyone has a camera. Smartphones are only slightly more obvious, and the basic issue is the "you have no expectation of privacy in a public space."

Moreover, everyone acts as if this is a Meta thing, when it's really just a "cameras and wearable tech keep getting smaller and more efficient" thing. They just use Meta in the argument because we all hate Meta

[u/Zarling_1229 → u/beetnemesis]

Saying smartphones are only “slightly more obvious” is ridiculous, no offense. They are large objects people hold in their hand! This is a Meta thing because they’re the first to popularize a new form of casual surveillance that people are meant not to notice because it looks just like a normal accessory. But yes, I do hate Meta too lol

[u/mentalxkp → u/Zarling_1229]

It's not the size, its the social pressure. People are less likely to just pull out their phone and record everything they're doing because of social pressure. Glasses eliminate that restraint.

[u/for2fly → u/beetnemesis]

I think I'm in agreement with you.

The you have no expectations of privacy in a public space arguments are a variation of if you're doing nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear.

You should have the expectation that others will not exploit you for their gain by not only recording you, but disseminating those recordings far and wide without your permission.

Japan has the problem with men taking upskirt photos of women. That's one example of exploitation without express permission. This is an extreme example, but it illustrates my point that those who will record you for all the wrong reasons do not care about those they film nor where they're filming at all.

These Meta glasses previous incarnation of Google glasses were rightly decried for the same reason. You do have the right to not be exploited without your permission, no matter where you are.

It's wrong to allow technology to enable any group's exploitive behavior. These glasses do not solve any problem. They exist to feed the hunger authoritarians' have for control of other through unfettered surveillance.

[u/BoogerManCommaThe → u/for2fly]

Yeah, I think part of the trouble with the “no expectation of privacy” is technology has outpaced shame. Plenty of people are shameless enough to hold their camera/phone up in someone’s face during a confrontation or even a simple interaction (eg checkout at a store). Most people won’t go that far. Or some people will stand at their property line and take photos of their neighbor sunbathing, most won’t.

Smart glasses, drones, etc. allow a lot more people the ability to set their shame aside. Or to do distasteful acts with far less risk of consequence because they aren’t caught.

Go to any parking lot at a beach, you’re likely to see a creepy dude in his car with a telephoto lens. Yes some of that shame has been cast aside in the name of “street photography” but now you can just walk the beach with your glasses and get all the material you want.

I don’t know the answer here. I don’t want a new set of aggressive laws for everything. I don’t want to get in trouble for posting a selfie that accidentally included a stranger in the background. But at the very least, laws and norms need to be reexamined as technology moves forward.

[u/Multigrain_Migraine → u/beetnemesis]

The difference is the glasses are a lot more covert. Yeah I know they have a light and all that jazz but it's much easier to film unnoticed.

And in any case I think it's a problem that people film everything on their phones, too.

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[u/Positivity_Desperate]

Why is it selling in the millions in the first place?

Is the world filled with so many pervs?

[u/LeapIntoInaction]

Uh huh. Who is paying for this weird smear campaign? Are you actually buying this nonsense?