As countries worldwide try to deal with the social effects of smart glasses, Paris prosecutors have initiated a criminal investigation into suspected “sexual harassment” with the help of such “technology,” and French data protection authorities have received complaints from businesses.

While there are multiple smart glasses on the market, the glasses created by US tech giant Meta in partnership with EssilorLuxottica lead the pack with approximately 76 per cent of the market globally.

Meta’s AI-powered glasses feature a tiny camera that lets users discreetly record videos, and have already sold 7 million units globally in 2025. In essence, Essilor has seen “exponential growth” in its sales in 2026, according to the latest sales reports.

However, their success has brought the company to the fore of an international spotlight on sexual harassment, corporate misconduct and illegal surveillance, among other matters, by prosecutors, regulators, rights groups and companies.

In Britain, some cinemas have blocked smart glasses, and a German consumer rights organisation has lodged a criminal complaint against the companies behind the devices in Germany, alleging that they violate privacy laws.

The Paris prosecutor’s office told Reuters it had recently launched at least one criminal investigation after sexual harassment allegations connected with a social media fad of filming women on the street without their consent using smart glasses and publishing the videos online. The prosecutors did not disclose the brands of the devices used.

It declined to give more details, but said its cybercrime unit tested the devices two weeks ago to gain a better understanding of the potential crimes that smart glasses could be used to commit. 

Meta stated that it had included “privacy from the start” in the development of its AI glasses, and it will continue to enhance the protection as the device grows more powerful. EssilorLuxottica declined to comment.

France’s data protection authority only received fewer than 10 complaints regarding the use of smart glasses in the workplace, CNIL said. It didn’t state which brands. It also reported that they were seeing more and more companies asking them if they were okay with smart glasses being banned at work.

Australia is weighing using camera-equipped smart glasses in government workplaces because of privacy and security concerns – and could be the first country to ban such devices.

Smart glasses present “real challenges” when it comes to informing people that they are being recorded and asking for consent if necessary, said CNIL head of economic affairs Nacera Bekhat.

The EU’s AI Act and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provide regulatory guidance on the use of people’s personal data by AI-powered wearable devices.

Though French law provides privacy protections – including penalties of up to a year in prison or a €45,000 (S$66,000) fine – for recording the image of a person in a private place without their consent, enforcement can be difficult, particularly when content is quickly disseminated online, CNIL and other legal sources said.

The small light that lights up in the devices’ frames means that they are filming, but rights groups said that’s shifting the burden of not being filmed to the individual.

“When a light comes on, it doesn’t mean that you agree to being filmed, or to having your image passed on to thousands of people later on,” said Ines Legendre, a legal expert with e-Enfance, an internet safety organisation.

The main victims of abuse with the help of smart glasses are women, rights groups say.

But the tech industry needs to do more to prevent abuse, said Ines Girard, the director of projects on technology-facilitated gender-based violence at feminist group Hubertine Auclert.

“This is a surveillance technology and we cannot tell those being surveilled that they need to be more vigilant,” she said. 

This adds to their burden, especially for women, gender minorities and people already facing violence in public spaces, online or in the community.