New App Notifies Users When Smart Glasses Are Detected Nearby

One of the biggest concerns about what some critics describe as “luxury surveillance” devices — such as smart glasses with built-in video-recording cameras — is that they often look almost identical to ordinary eyewear. That means a person could potentially be recorded without ever realising it.

Now, a new app aims to address that problem by detecting and warning users when someone nearby may be wearing smart glasses or other always-recording devices.

The Android app, called Nearby Glasses, continuously scans for nearby Bluetooth signals emitted by devices, including wearables from companies such as Meta, Oakley, and Snap.

The app arrives at a moment when resistance to always-recording or always-listening gadgets is growing, which critics argue gather and process information about nearby people without their permission.

Yves Jeanrenaud, the developer behind the app, first discussed the project with 404 Media and said he was partly inspired to build Nearby Glasses after reading the outlet’s reporting on wearable surveillance devices, including stories about how Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses have allegedly been used during immigration raids and to film and harass sex workers.

On the app’s project page, Jeanrenaud described smart glasses as an “intolerable intrusion, consent-neglecting, horrible piece of tech.”

Jeanrenaud said in an email that his motivation came from “witnessing the sheer scale and inhumane nature of the abuse these smart glasses are involved in.” He also pointed to Meta’s decision to make face recognition a default feature in its smart glasses, which he said he views as “a huge floodgate pushed open for all kinds of privacy-invasive behaviour.”

The app works by monitoring nearby Bluetooth signals that include a publicly assigned identifier unique to the manufacturer of the Bluetooth device. If Nearby Glasses detects a Bluetooth signal coming from nearby hardware produced by Meta or Snap, it sends an alert to the user. The app also lets users add custom Bluetooth identifiers, enabling detection of a wider range of wearable surveillance devices.

Jeanrenaud noted that the app can still produce false positives. In practice, that means it might detect a Meta virtual reality headset nearby and alert the user as though it were a pair of smart glasses from the same manufacturer. Even so, VR headsets are usually much larger and more obvious to anyone wearing them.

To test the app, I installed it on an Android phone and walked around my city neighbourhood. To my surprise, I did not encounter any smart-glasses users and did not receive an alert. Because the app supports custom identifiers, I added a specific Bluetooth identifier, 0x004C, which enabled me to scan for nearby Apple-made devices. My phone immediately flooded with alerts, as expected, since it likely detected every Apple device within range.

That made it clear that the app functions as intended.

Jeanrenaud said he is still working on adding new features. He also said there has been demand for an iPhone version, but whether that happens will depend on his availability and spare time.

Discussing the purpose of the app, Jeanrenaud said: “Of course, it’s a technical solution to a social problem (which is amplified by technology), and it won’t go away anytime soon.” He described Nearby Glasses as a “desperate act of resistance, hoping it would help at least someone.”

When contacted for comment, Cassie Bumgarner, a spokesperson for smart-glasses maker Snap, said the company’s connected glasses were “designed with privacy in mind,” noting that they include both an LED indicator and an audible alert when recording other people.

Bumgarner did not immediately explain what, if any, measures Snap uses to prevent the unwanted recording of other people’s information beyond those indicators.