Kylie Jenner’s Meta Glasses Debut Triggers Backlash as 7 Million Sales Renew Privacy Fears
Updated
Updated · Business Insider · Jul 22
Kylie Jenner’s Meta Glasses Debut Triggers Backlash as 7 Million Sales Renew Privacy Fears
3 articles · Updated · Business Insider · Jul 22
Summary
Jenner’s late-June launch of oval-framed Meta glasses drew immediate criticism, with social-media users calling them “predator glasses” and a British advocacy group running a bus ad saying “we’re always watching you.”
The backlash lands as Meta’s camera glasses gain real-world traction — selling at least 7 million pairs last year — making their hands-free photo and video features more visible and more contested among young consumers.
Scrutiny has intensified around AI features Meta is considering, especially facial recognition: Wired reported dormant code for a “NameTag” feature, though Meta says it has not decided to launch it and it is unavailable today.
Meta executives have framed the technology partly around accessibility, citing benefits for blind users and people with memory or cognitive impairments; in June, Meta offered free glasses to 130,000 blind military veterans who request them.
The episode underscores Meta’s broader challenge: expanding consumer AI wearables while persuading the public that future features such as facial recognition can be introduced without unacceptable privacy tradeoffs.