this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2026
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The creator of Nearby Glasses made the app after reading 404 Media's coverage of how people are using Meta's Ray-Bans smartglasses to film people without their knowledge or consent. “I consider it to be a tiny part of resistance against surveillance tech.”

more at: @feed@404media.co

https://tech.lgbt/@yjeanrenaud/116122129025921096

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[–] m3t00@lemmy.world 1 points 11 hours ago

needs a disrupter to ignite it's batteries. js. what good is detection w/o counter measures

[–] moebiusstrop@piefed.social 10 points 1 day ago

Github (APK) link, if you're on a privacy phone: https://github.com/yjeanrenaud/yj_nearbyglasses

[–] 87Six@lemmy.zip 28 points 1 day ago (16 children)

I agree but the biggest defense for this is to always assume you're being recorded when in public even if you're not. You never know.

The issue becomes relevant in private spaces, to me. Nobody with smart glasses is coming into my home.

[–] GardenGeek@europe.pub 20 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Doesn't this boil down to self-censorship in public? Better not critizise the government in public becaus you never know whos waring smart glasses...

[–] MajorasTerribleFate@lemmy.zip 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I agree with the core of your point. I'd like to assert, though, that all people exert some level of self-censorship in public on the basis of the opinions of their neighbors and peers. Having to worry about powerful organizations like governments and megacorps also always being there (instead of just sometimes, or usually) adds a new degree of reason to self-censor, for sure.

[–] Donkter@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

Yes. You should have to censor yourself for neighbors and peers to have a functioning society. You should not have to do it for corporations. The line is pretty cut and dry and we should fight to keep it.

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[–] webdoodle@lemmy.ml 16 points 1 day ago

I just re-watched Ghost in the Shell SAC Laughing Man last night, and wouldn't mind seeing these things get hacked with the Laughing Man logo replacing any face it was looking at, re-writing signs, etc.

[–] HalfSalesman@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I mean, eventually there are going to be people with camera's stealthily integrated directly into their eyeballs recording non-stop.

Like that black mirror episode letting people relive any moment from their past.

[–] Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The wireless communication protocol will still be able to be intercepted. A physical port for data transfer will probably be too dangerous to the subject and prone to contamination (and infection).

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[–] Jankatarch@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago (3 children)

It apparently works with the bluetooth signals which I found really smart.

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[–] Nioxic@lemmy.dbzer0.com 152 points 2 days ago (6 children)

Wasnt there a ton of outrage and such incl people not being allowed on planes, back when google glass was released?

Why is it all OK now?

[–] Honytawk@discuss.tchncs.de 20 points 1 day ago (2 children)

It still isn't OK.

It is just that the technology became so small, you can't differentiate with regular sunglasses anymore.

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[–] red_bull_of_juarez@lemmy.dbzer0.com 26 points 1 day ago (1 children)

There's a window of attention for public discourse and there's fatigue. We, as a group, can only be upset about so much. It's a tried tactic to just try to distract us with some crazy shit, like Trump did with the alien files. If one crazy thing comes up in the news, other stuff will drop from our radar. And that's why people try shit again and again and again. Always in the hope that this time people are distracted by other stuff or are finally worn down enough.

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[–] ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 94 points 2 days ago

Same reason our governments suck ass. Something unpopular tries to get passed again, and again, and again, and again, and eventually people get desensitized and worn out from trying to fight against it. That or it hits on the right time when people are distracted by something else bigger or more important.

[–] _haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works 61 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I remember Google Glass itself receiving a ton of outrage actually: People hated it and anyone wearing one was made fun of ("glassholes" was a popular insult at the time).

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[–] matlag@sh.itjust.works 36 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Years of privacy violations going deeper and deeper under pretend of "progress" and "pRoTeCt the cHiLdReN". I am glad that people started rebelling against Flock, and some removed their Amazon cameras following the Superbowl's ads, but that's not even close to how much we should be mad at these mass surveillance actors.

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[–] panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 282 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Admittedly, this is cyberpunk as fuck. 

Should not be needed… but it’s a fucking cool solution. 

[–] axexrx@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Next step is for someone makes a version that hijacks the Bluetooth headphones and makes them play a loud shrill noise that makes the glasses too uncomfortable to wear in your pressence.

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[–] SkyeStarfall@lemmy.blahaj.zone 94 points 2 days ago (29 children)

You know what sucks?

In that AR glasses, in theory, are such an interesting technology with lots of potential, and certainly a piece of tech I would love to have and work with and on. Not to secretly record people, but to, well.. augment my field of view with whatever digital tools or displays I would like. It would be so useful

It's honestly kinda saddening to me that it most likely will get completely ruined by our current toxic relationship to technology. A step towards our ever increasing cyberdystopia, and not towards enchanting our limited lives

Obviously either way I don't trust Meta, but an open-hardware device running a FOSS AR system? It would be nice..

I still hold out hope that this somehow could be resolved, and I would love to contribute to open software for these devices. Maybe one day soon-ish I will. My expertise should be well applicable, after all

[–] MBech@feddit.dk 47 points 2 days ago (14 children)

It would be incredibly useful in construction. Having a digital overlay telling you exactly where to put up the framing for a separating wall, or an overlay showing the correct distance between screws, or where wires and pipes are inside a wall? There are so incredibly many awesome possible uses for AR in construction.

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[–] northernlights@lemmy.today 103 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (13 children)

Paywalled article. Here's the link to the app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ch.pocketpc.nearbyglasses

Edit: it's licensed under a license I never heard of. I'm curious, I don't understand why it was needed.

"Why draft new licenses? Until now, there has been no standardization of this kind of source code license, even though it has become increasingly common. This has resulted in confusing and overlapping licenses, which need to be analyzed one at a time. Lack of standardization has used up the time and resources of many in the software industry, as well as their lawyers. The objective of the PolyForm Project is standardization and reduction of costs for developers and users."

Seems like that exact XKCD about standards.

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[–] Alberat@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (5 children)

i mean... you can also just look around and see the guy with the dorky out-of-place classes...

I don't want to have to keep up with the current styles of SmartGlasses from however many makers of these things there are at any given time. I am happy to outsource this awareness to someone I can find good reason to trust to provide me the info I need. Just like I don't make my own vaccines, because I have no idea how to get the 5G that small.

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[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 19 points 1 day ago

meta is all about surveillance cant expect anything less

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