Smart glasses: ‘People shouldn’t have to worry about a recording – or where it might end up’

Self-styled social-media prankster Vladyslav Morhulets regularly posts videos of his interactions with members of the Irish public filmed using smart glasses.

His videos involve him pulling pranks on the unsuspecting, with footage shot from his point of view. In one gag he attempts to pass off a “zero-euro” note to an unsuspecting shop worker.

In several videos posted to video sharing platform TikTok, the Ukrainian-born Morhulets encounters gardaí, one of whom instructs him to put the glasses away.

In another post he approaches heavily inebriated people on a street in Cork, none of whom appear to be aware he is filming him with his smart glasses. In many videos, the people being unknowingly recorded appear uncomfortable with his advances.

In March, one of his videos, of a young woman receiving medical attention, was removed from TikTok after it was found to be in breach of the company’s rules.

Morhulets has more than one million followers online, a following built with help from this relatively new and very contentious technology. He was approached for comment by The Irish Times.

Smart glasses have preoccupied the tech industry for well over a decade. Google attempted to roll out its Google Glass product in 2012 but it was later withdrawn amid claims that the glasses could compromise privacy laws.

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The glasses resembled something from an old sci-fi film and stood out from regular spectacles. But the collaborations between Facebook-owner Meta and sunglasses manufacturer EssilorLuxottica have seen the arrival of discreet, orthodox-looking “smart” spectacles.

To the untrained eye, they can resemble a normal pair of dark sunglasses, and carry the Ray-Ban and Oakley branding.

The technology company says the latest models, which dominate the smart glasses market, could improve quality of life for the visually impaired through an innovative range of features. These include the ability to read text aloud through voice synthesis and offer “turn-by-turn” directions.

Critics point out that the same product can also be widely used for nefarious purposes. They have been branded as “pervert glasses” by some given they can be used to secretly film people who are naked or undressing in a private area.

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There are also numerous instances of women being approached on the street by men wearing the glasses who go on to record them without their knowledge or consent.

Gyms and swimming pool changing areas are vulnerable to people who wish to carry out covert recordings, and businesses have been forced to take pre-emptive action.

“We want people to feel confident,” says Steve O’Reilly, head of operations at BD Gyms (formerly Ben Dunne Gyms). “They shouldn’t have to spend their workout worrying about a recording – or where it might end up.”

O’Reilly made the decision about six months ago to prohibit the wearing of recordable devices in its five gyms in Dublin and Laois.

“When it became apparent in the media, and Meta were saying this was the new ‘in’ thing – we took the stance that we wanted to be welcoming to everybody,” he says.

He says recording videos in their gyms is allowed – and people are able to use their mobile phones if they want to record their own workouts – but it is the ability to make covert recordings that sets smart glasses apart.

“We want people to keep coming back,” he says. “We don’t want them worried about whether a recording might be happening.”

BD Gyms is not the only chain to have banned the glasses.

FlyeFit, which has 22 locations in Dublin, Cork and Galway, has banned the wearing and use of Meta glasses in its gyms.

The West Wood Club chain has prohibited the unauthorised use of “wearable devices” at its six Dublin premises.

There are also concerns about their use in social settings such as pubs and restaurants.

“Personally I think they’re creepy,” says Gina Murphy, owner of Hugo’s Restaurant on Merrion Row in Dublin.

“We don’t have an official policy yet, as I haven’t needed it, but if someone did come in wearing them I’d ask them to take them off. We deal with a lot of corporate and business clients – they are far too important to have their privacy impinged upon.”

Murphy says this is a core consideration for the business, and she carefully scrutinises bookings every day “to make sure certain people are not sitting near others because they’re in the same business or industry”.

“Discretion is the key to my table plans,” she says.

The British pub chain Wetherspoons, which operates several establishments in Ireland, cited concerns about customer and staff privacy when recently banning the use of smart glasses on their premises. Customers are asked to switch off the recording function on entrance.

Several independent pub owners The Irish Times has spoken to are yet to implement an official policy, but are wary of what might lie ahead.

Ronan Lynch, who runs the Swan Bar on York Street in Dublin, says he hasn’t yet had to deal with any instances of people wearing the glasses, but anticipates that it is something the bar will have to address in the future.

“I’m sure that as they become more commonplace, issues will arise,” he says.

The Data Protection Commission is tasked with policing this space. Following a commission statement regarding concerns it had about Meta’s first glasses model in 2021, the company announced a new version in 2023.

Measures designed to protect the privacy of third parties included the doubling in size of an LED light that illuminates to let people know the glasses are in recording mode – as well as the addition of a blinking pattern to the light, to make it more obvious.

“It is our understanding that the glasses can detect if the sensor is completely blocked and the glasses will prevent the user then from taking a photo or video,” says a spokesperson.

Data privacy experts are deeply sceptical, however.

“The notion that you give adequate notice with a flashing light is a joke,” says TJ McIntyre, associate professor in the Sutherland School of Law at University College Dublin.

“The visibility indicator on them is so easily disabled, and there are many people out there who will do it for you.”

Instructional videos exist online showing users how to drill out the LED and seal the gap with resin.

According to McIntyre, the discussion around the blinking light is also a “red herring” that distracts from fundamental rights to privacy.

“It [the light] is irrelevant,” he says. “It should not be up to the individual being affected to change their behaviour.”

McIntyre worries about the integration of these devices into a much bigger technological ecosystem – in particular their potential usage as a means to remove anonymity altogether.

“Another scenario is if you think of them as part of a wider system that can be used to capture people surreptitiously and then use facial recognition to identify the people involved,” he says.

“Meta has already considered building facial recognition into their glasses – and is very cynically trying to exploit the fact that people in the United States are preoccupied with other political problems right now.

“That would be a major concern as well – if it were to happen it would be the end of any concept of anonymity. The idea that any randomer can harass you and find out who you are.”

Concerns also exist among privacy campaigners about what happens to footage even if it is not broadcast online or shared in private networks.

An investigation by two Swedish newspapers found subcontracted staff had watched recorded videos by wearers of the glasses – an invasion of privacy even if the images never enter the public domain.

With more than seven million sold in 2025, Mark Zuckerberg said Meta Glasses were some of the “fastest-growing consumer electronics in history”.

Whatever the doubts about their uses, their popularity seems beyond question.