Man encounters a ‘creepy dude’ talking to himself in Union Square. He then reveals that he developed an app to keep such people away
Is technology going too far?
Discussions about technological advancements have increasingly focused on their drawbacks, and one gadget that has repeatedly been at the center of these discussions is Meta glasses. Numerous reports have emerged of privacy breaches, with individuals sharing on social media their experiences of being secretly recorded, putting their safety at risk. In many cases, Meta glasses have been misused against women by men who covertly recorded them and improperly exploited the footage.
Albet’s experience is not much different. In a TikTok video, he said he encountered a suspicious man who appeared to be talking to himself while walking beside him at the farmers’ market in Union Square. “There was a creepy dude walking next to me…I was like, what the hell is going on here?” he said, then revealed that he later realized the man had Meta glasses on and was recording.
This one experience was enough for Albet to take action. He said he developed a detector that would enable him to know if anyone was wearing and using Meta glasses.
“I built a detector on my phone because I have had enough of being part of your goddamn content. For your spy glasses that are meant to look like normal ass glasses. I, I can’t do this anymore, Zuckerberg. So you know what I made? Anti-Zuck,” Albet said, addressing Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. He added, “The thing that will tell you if someone has Meta glasses. Snap specs, any of those around you within, like, a 30-foot radius.”
“Fastest purchase ever”
Some people resonated with Albet’s experience, sharing their own encounters with Meta Glasses in the comments. One individual noted, “Some guy working security at an EDM festival had meta glasses on. What’s worse is that he was doing ID checks… I’m still so unsettled by it.” Another stated, “Hey a tech at the pediatricians [sic] office was wearing some meta glasses and said nothing about it and I only noticed after she had us checked in and had already did my kids vitals.”
A few people expressed approval for the downloadable “Anti-Zuck” app following Albet’s mention. One user said, “Just found it on the App Store. AND IT DOESNT COLLECT DATA??…Gladly paying a few dollars for this.” Another said, “Fastest purchase ever. I literally cancelled my trip to South Korea to see Psy’s summer swag because he used Meta glasses because it is that serious.” However, some people raised concerns that it’s a paid app. One person wrote, “The app costs money to install. way to go capitalism.”
One individual raised a plausible issue related to Meta Glasses usage that disproportionately disadvantages women. They wrote, “I saw someone say that if more women wore meta glasses and uploaded the footage of their daily interactions with men, then the laws would swiftly change.”
Some people harped on the idea that being in public somehow grants people access to them. One person said, “You act like someone can’t secretly record on their phone. You’re in public; stop acting like you have some expectation of privacy.” Another wrote, “Playing devil’s advocate here, but you have no expectation of privacy when you’re out in public.”
While debates about whether Meta Glasses are beneficial or harmful continue, it’s clear regulations are necessary for such emerging technology. The potential for misuse is high, and ample online evidence shows how these devices could be abused. As Albet suggests in his video, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
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