US law enforcement agencies escalate warnings about Meta smart glasses as covert recording tool
Police departments and federal agencies across the country have issued memos expressing concern that Ray-Ban Meta glasses could be used to secretly record officers, facilities, and potentially aid in criminal or terrorist planning.
What happened
In January 2025, the NYPD's counterterrorism unit distributed a memo warning officers that Meta smart glasses pose a "security and counterintelligence" threat, directing them to inspect eyewear in detention facilities. The memo cited videos posted to social media, including one filmed with smart glasses in July 2025 showing the interior of a South Carolina detention center, with views of holding cells, showers, and detainees. At least a dozen law enforcement memos from agencies spanning Maine to California, reviewed by The Guardian, express similar concerns about smart glasses being used to covertly record officers and facilities or aid in crimes and terrorism. ICE issued its own memo in August banning smart glasses in federal workspaces, classifying them as body-worn cameras capable of capturing sensitive information. The FBI alerted the NYPD that the perpetrator of the New Year's Day terror attack in New Orleans biked around Bourbon Street twice at the end of 2024 wearing smart glasses, with the FBI alleging the perpetrator conducted "pre-attack target reconnaissance."
Context
Meta smart glasses appear as ordinary eyewear and feature a small blinking LED when recording, though that indicator can potentially be overlooked or obscured. Law enforcement agencies worry the technology could expose facility layouts, camera placements, and officer routines if recordings are released, and fear their use in planning violent acts through reconnaissance. The widespread police concern reflects a tension between government surveillance capabilities and the potential for those capabilities to be turned back on law enforcement. Privacy advocates and government transparency organizations note the asymmetry: law enforcement agencies conduct extensive surveillance of the public but classify covert recording of themselves as a security threat.
What's disputed
Meta claims its glasses "are designed to be noticed" with a bright white LED that cannot be turned off and disables the camera if tampered with, contrasting with law enforcement concerns about covert recording. Ryan Shapiro of Property of the People disputes the framing of the threat, arguing that restricting recording of police while allowing government surveillance of the public amounts to "impunity" rather than security.