Meta’s glasses now stop recording if you cover the LED

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August 28, 2026, 5:12 PM

• •Meta updated its smart glasses so recording stops if the LED indicator is covered mid-recording.
• •The change follows an earlier fix that disabled the camera when the LED was physically drilled out of the frame.
• •Meta wearables chief Alex Himel said the company will keep issuing updates to ensure the capture LED reliably alerts bystanders.
• •France’s CNIL said technical notification devices have limited range and are insufficient on their own, stressing that wearers must respect privacy and obtain consent where appropriate.
• •The European Data Protection Board is expected to publish a report on smart glasses, while Hamburg’s data protection commissioner has raised concerns under German concealed-recording rules.
• •Two Italian MEPs previously asked the Irish regulator about reviewers in Kenya watching footage captured by the glasses.

Meta has pushed a second summer update to its Ray-Ban smart glasses so the camera stops recording if the capture LED is covered during filming. The company is also running ads to explain the recording light to bystanders, while executives have floated camera-free glasses. The article says European regulators are focused less on the indicator light itself than on whether wearers have a lawful basis and consent to record other people. France’s CNIL has called notification devices insufficient by design, and an EDPB report on smart glasses is expected soon.

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