Kylie Jenner’s recent collaboration with Meta on a new line of smart glasses reflects a broad cultural shift toward the acceptance of routine surveillance. From federal tracking systems to content posted of individuals without their consent, surveillance has become an increasingly prevalent part of our lives.
At UT, content creators frequent Speedway and Guadalupe Street and post filmed interactions with students on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram Reels.
“I think it’s simply low-skill (content) and people doing anything they can for attention online,” finance junior Paco Intebi said. “(It) doesn’t really bring any good or positivity.”
This content relies on strangers used as props for engagement, including those who do not consent to being included in the video. One creator who regularly posts interactions with students on Guadalupe captured by smart glasses, asking them to participate in challenges like shotgunning a Four Loko or chugging a BuzzBallz for $20, has posted several videos that begin with individuals quickly walking away after declining to participate.
Research has shown that influencer marketing can make public attitudes towards smart technologies more favorable. A 2019 report showed that 63% of people ages 18-34 “trust what influencers say about brands much more than what brands say about themselves in their advertising.”
Meta glasses have been used by “manfluencers” who covertly record and post videos of women they have approached and hit on. Women have reported receiving harassing text messages and calls after videos sexualizing them went viral without their knowledge.
Meta has expanded the capabilities of its glasses, with reports showing that they have been developing a facial recognition feature allowing users to identify people and access their information through Meta’s AI assistant. This facial recognition technology was built by Rank One Computing, a company that supplies surveillance tools to both local and federal law enforcement, raising concerns about how their technology could expand government surveillance and limit civil liberties.
A speech and privacy attorney argues those concerns are justified, because personal data can be used in ways that people do not anticipate. Surveillance affects people’s willingness to exercise constitutional rights like free speech and protest. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), for example, has sent legal requests to tech companies to provide identifying information about users that criticize the agency.
“When people know they’re being watched, … it’s very chilling on people’s First Amendment rights,” the attorney said. “People should have the right to go out and freely express themselves and not worry that they’re going to be surveilled and punished because of their speech or their views.”
Though the glasses are advertised as a practical wearable device that can be used to easily capture memories or access information with just a voice prompt, the ethical implications of the technology provide a far greater risk that outweighs the convenience it provides.
As influencers continue to present surveillance-capable devices as fashionable, convenient technology, they help normalize a culture where we are accustomed to being constantly recorded and having our data collected. Students should question the products and online behaviors being promoted, reject invasive recording culture by not rewarding predatory creators with engagement and push lawmakers to pass privacy laws limiting how tech companies collect, store and share data.
Together, we can reclaim agency over our own lives and push back against the surveillance state currently taking form.
Chatterjee is a government junior from Allen, Texas.