A UK activist group has targeted Kylie Jenner’s campaign for Meta’s smart glasses with a guerrilla bus-stop advert near Meta’s London headquarters, escalating public criticism over privacy and consent.
The group, Everyone Hates Elon, installed a lenticular spoof ad that changes depending on the viewer’s angle. One side shows Jenner wearing Meta glasses, while the other turns the image into a skeletal, surveillance-style version with the message: “We’re always watching.”
The action follows Meta’s partnership with Jenner to promote a lower-priced line of smart glasses, a campaign that has drawn criticism from privacy campaigners who warn that camera-equipped eyewear can make public recording harder to detect.
The group said Meta had spent years tracking people online and now wants to extend that tracking into the physical world. It also argued that smart glasses could be misused to secretly record women and young people.
Meta says its smart glasses include a white notification LED that turns on when the camera is recording. According to Ray-Ban’s official product information, users can record 30-second, 60-second or three-minute videos, with the default set at 30 seconds and longer recording available through app settings.
The company has also said it is rolling out a software update that disables the camera if the recording LED is tampered with or damaged, a move intended to address concerns that users could hide the recording indicator.
The protest reflects a wider backlash against AI-powered wearable devices, as campaigners, privacy advocates and public institutions debate whether current safeguards are enough to protect people from being recorded without meaningful consent.
