It\u2019s murder on the dance floor \u2014 at least for \u201csmart\u201d glasses.<\/p>\n
After a summer of high-tech launches from Ray-Ban and Oakley, some of New York\u2019s coolest clubs <\/a>have put their foot, and their computerized spectacles, down.\u00a0<\/p>\n The new rule: If you wear gawker goggles from Meta or Snap \u2014 the kind that could record and broadcast fellow party kids online without their knowledge \u2014you risk trading a night under the blacklights for a lifetime on a blacklist.<\/p>\n Mark Zuckerberg would be banned from several New York hotspots for wearing Meta\u2019s smart glasses. Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n Talk of bans recently hit the international stage on October 5, when Norway called for a temporary moratorium on the inspector gadgets in gyms, doctors\u2019 offices and other private spaces, including party venues<\/a>, across the entire nation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do not want a society where people are concerned about hidden audio recordings, photography and filming in places and situations where they are used to being without being monitored,\u201d declared the country\u2019s Minister of Digitalization and Public Administration Torgeir Micaelsen in a state press release.<\/a><\/p>\n In July, New York became the first U.S. state to prohibit the surveillance specs in \u201cstate, county, town and village courts.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, private venues across NYC and elsewhere are joining the privacy party.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ultra-exclusive Queens nightclub Basement \u2014 known for barring revelers who fail their mysterious \u201cvibe check\u201d \u2014 announced on Instagram last month<\/a> that anyone wearing or bringing smart glasses into the venue \u201cwill be asked to leave and may be permanently banned.\u201d<\/p>\n In June, the Cocktail Bed Stuy bar in Brooklyn introduced a similar policy<\/a> after Meta proposed introducing facial recognition technology into its glasses \u2014 a plan the tech conglomerate, which owns Facebook and Instagram \u2014 walked back after a massive outcry on its own social media platforms.<\/p>\n Kylie Jenner paired with Meta in June. @kyliejenner\/@metaglasses\/Instagram<\/p>\n An underground party promoter in Brooklyn named James told The Post that shindigs are closed to digital looky-loos. <\/p>\n He instituted the policy at his floating soirees, which crop up at such hotspots as Honey\u2019s, after seeing someone sport the specs at Nowadays, a rave cave on the edge of Bushwick. (Nowadays has since imposed a similar ban against smart glasses.)\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI just felt immediately uncomfortable and it immediately killed my vibe on the dance floor,\u201d said James, who requested anonymity because of his sometimes-illegal gig.\u00a0<\/p>\n He said that getting filmed on someone\u2019s smartphone while you\u2019re just trying to dance is bad \u2014 but it\u2019s 10x worse with smart glasses, which might look like an innocent visual aid, but can secretly start filming you with the press of a tiny button.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dance halls across the world are banning \u201cpervy glasses\u201d that can secretly record and livestream other partygoers. glazok \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n \u201cI think the biggest problem with the glasses is that they\u2019re very covert,\u201d he lamented. \u201cThey\u2019re like pervert glasses, [especially] if you don\u2019t want to be observed and recorded when you\u2019re partying.\u201d<\/p>\n Unfortunately, James isn\u2019t speaking in hypotheticals.<\/p>\n This past spring, a group of online creeps went viral after wearing<\/a> smart glasses while bothering women, then broadcasting their icky actions on Instagram. (Platform chief Adam Mosseri publicly banned that behavior in July.) \u00a0<\/p>\n Ultra-secretive club Basement has banned smart glasses from the dancefloor. @basementnewyork \/ Instagram<\/p>\n James told The Post that such behavior is particularly frowned on in the New York club scene, as it\u2019s the one place that city kids \u201ccan really let loose\u201d without stigma or judgment.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the one time in the week where you\u2019re not being surveilled,\u201d he explained. \u201cYou\u2019re being surveilled at your job, on the street, everything.\u201d<\/p>\n The bans are spreading across North America.\u00a0<\/p>\n Seattle\u2019s pioneering 5 Points Cafe,<\/a> which banned Google Glass smart specs in 2013, reupped the policy for the digital Ray-Ban age. \u201cWe serve privacy, not side-eye surveillance,\u201d they declared on Instagram.<\/a><\/p>\n Toronto DJ Takin Nateghi instituted a similar policy at his nightlife den, Wiggle Room, in September. The beatmaster even equipped his staffers with an app that can detect spyware on the dance floor.<\/p>\n An overreaction? Nateghi says no way.<\/p>\n \u201cAt Wiggle Room, we have a lot of professionals like lawyers, doctors and off-duty police officers,\u201d he told The Post. \u201cThey don\u2019t want their video to be out on social media of them having a good time or having a few drinks.\u201d<\/p>\n Even if they\u2019re behaving badly with a mistress or associate?<\/p>\n \u201cWho knows?\u201d shrugged Nateghi, noting that as long as nothing harmful or abusive is happening, \u201cIt\u2019s none of our business.\u201d<\/p>\n Cocktail Bed Stuy in Brooklyn has also banished the shady shades. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n