A Polish developer has built an app that can detect nearby Meta smart glasses equipped with cameras, giving users a way to become more aware of recording-capable wearable devices in their surroundings. The tool is aimed at addressing growing privacy concerns as smart glasses become increasingly common in public spaces.
The application alerts users when compatible Meta smart glasses are detected nearby. However, it comes with an important limitation: it cannot determine whether the glasses are actively recording at the time they are detected.
The development comes as camera-equipped smart glasses increasingly move beyond being niche gadgets and become part of everyday wearable technology. Meta’s smart glasses, developed in partnership with Ray-Ban, allow users to take photographs and videos, make calls, listen to audio and interact with digital assistants without needing to take out a smartphone.
That convenience has also created a new privacy challenge. Unlike traditional cameras, smart glasses can look like ordinary eyewear, making it less obvious to people nearby that they may be in the field of a camera.
The Polish developer’s application attempts to address this issue by identifying compatible glasses in the surrounding area. When the app detects a nearby device, it can notify the user that camera-equipped Meta glasses may be present.
The alert, however, should not be interpreted as confirmation that someone is filming.
Meta’s smart glasses include a physical indicator designed to show when the camera is being used to capture content. But someone standing nearby may not always notice the indicator, particularly in crowded environments or when the wearer is several metres away.
The new application therefore focuses on device presence rather than recording status. It can tell users that a compatible pair of smart glasses is nearby, but it cannot establish whether the camera is currently taking a photograph, recording video or otherwise capturing content.
This distinction is particularly important because detecting a smart-glasses signal does not necessarily mean that the device is being used for surveillance or recording. The glasses could simply be switched on, connected to a phone or operating normally without the camera being activated.
The app also does not function as a universal detector for hidden cameras. Its purpose is much narrower, focusing on identifying compatible Meta smart glasses rather than every camera or recording device in an area.
Nevertheless, the project highlights a broader issue surrounding wearable technology. As cameras become embedded in products designed to be worn throughout the day, determining when people are being recorded could become increasingly difficult.
Smartphones and conventional cameras generally make their presence obvious. A person holding a phone toward someone or carrying a dedicated camera can often be identified as potentially taking pictures. Smart glasses change that dynamic because the camera sits at eye level and can be operated without requiring the wearer to hold anything.
This has led to increasing discussions around consent and privacy. A person wearing camera-equipped glasses could potentially capture images or video containing strangers, workplaces, shops or other private surroundings. Even when the recording is not malicious, bystanders may have little awareness that they have appeared in the footage.
The Polish developer’s application offers one possible response to that problem by giving people more information about the devices around them.
However, its limitations mean users cannot rely on the app as proof that they are being recorded. A notification indicates that compatible smart glasses are nearby, not that their camera is active.
The technology also raises questions about how privacy tools will evolve alongside increasingly sophisticated wearables. If smart glasses become as common as smartphones, people may eventually expect tools that can identify nearby connected devices in the same way that smartphones can identify Wi-Fi networks or Bluetooth devices.
For now, the application represents an early attempt to make the invisible aspects of wearable technology more visible. Rather than trying to interfere with or disable smart glasses, it simply informs users when a compatible device may be operating close to them.
The development could be particularly relevant in places where privacy expectations are high, including workplaces, schools, public events and other crowded environments. At the same time, users will need to understand exactly what the alerts mean and avoid assuming that the presence of detected glasses automatically indicates recording.
As Meta and other technology companies continue developing smart glasses, privacy is likely to remain a central part of the conversation. Future generations of wearable devices could offer even more advanced cameras, artificial intelligence and hands-free features, potentially making the distinction between ordinary eyewear and sophisticated computing devices even harder to recognise.
The Polish developer’s app does not solve the broader privacy concerns surrounding smart glasses, nor can it reveal when a camera is actually recording. What it does provide is a simple warning that a potentially camera-equipped Meta wearable is nearby.
That distinction could nevertheless prove valuable as society adjusts to a world in which cameras are no longer limited to phones, security systems and dedicated photography equipment, but can also be worn as everyday accessories.
