We got used to smartphones pointing at us.
Someone lifts a phone, and you immediately know there is a chance you're in the photo or video.
Smart glasses change that.
Someone can now be looking directly at you, wearing what looks like a normal pair of glasses, and you may have no idea whether you're being recorded.
And that's where things get weird.
The Camera Is Slowly Disappearing
The problem isn't that smart glasses have cameras.
We've had tiny cameras for years.
The difference is social awareness.
When someone holds a phone up, there's a signal. You notice it. You can move away. You can ask them not to record.
With smart glasses, that signal becomes much smaller.
Some glasses have recording indicator lights. Meta, for example, says its AI glasses use a capture LED and has added protections designed to disable the camera if that indicator is blocked or tampered with.
Still, imagine sitting in a cafe.
Someone at the next table looks in your direction.
Are they looking at you?
Taking a photo?
Recording video?
Talking to AI about what they're seeing?
You probably won't know.
Public Doesn't Mean We Stopped Caring
There's an argument that goes:
"You're in public anyway."
Technically, yes.
But being visible in public and being permanently recorded are two very different experiences.
A random stranger seeing you eating lunch is normal.
That same stranger recording you, uploading the video and letting thousands of people watch it tonight feels very different.
And this isn't theoretical anymore. People have already complained about being recorded without realizing it, while venues and institutions are beginning to restrict smart glasses.
Then AI Arrives
Now add AI.
Smart glasses don't just have to record what they see.
They can potentially understand what's around them, respond to questions and process information about the environment.
That's incredibly useful.
It could help someone navigate a city, translate signs, remember information or assist people with disabilities.
But convenience usually comes with a tradeoff.
I wrote about this from a cybersecurity perspective in Convenience Is an Attack Surface. The easier and more invisible technology becomes, the more important it is to understand what we're giving up in return.
Maybe Privacy Won't Disappear
But our definition of privacy might.
We once worried about CCTV cameras on buildings.
Then everyone carried a camera in their pocket.
Now the camera is moving onto our faces.
Soon, perhaps we won't even notice it anymore.
Smart glasses could be amazing technology.
I just hope we don't reach a point where walking into a cafe means quietly accepting that anyone looking at us could also be recording us.
Because that's a very different kind of public place.
One where everyone can see everyone, but nobody knows who is watching.