French prosecutors have initiated a criminal probe into alleged sexual harassment involving smart glasses, spurred by a surge of complaints that women were being recorded on the street without their permission, Reuters reported on Friday.
Several smart glasses are on the market, but Meta's model, developed in partnership with Essilor Luxottica, leads the industry with approximately 76% global market share.
Meta's AI-powered glasses, featuring a tiny built-in camera that lets the wearer record secretly, have become a worldwide sensation, with 7 million units sold last year. Essilor's most recent sales figures indicate " exponential growth" for 2026.
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Yet their success has drawn increasing international attention from prosecutors, regulators, human rights organisations, and corporations concerning matters such as sexual harassment, corporate misconduct, and unlawful surveillance.
Certain UK cinemas have prohibited smart glasses, while a German consumer advocacy group has lodged a criminal complaint against Meta and other firms selling the devices in Germany, alleging violations of privacy laws.
The Paris prosecutor's office informed Reuters that it has recently initiated at least one criminal investigation in response to sexual harassment allegations tied to a social media trend involving the use of smart glasses to secretly record women on the street and upload the footage online without their consent. The prosecutors did not indicate which brand of devices was used.
It declined to provide further details but stated that its cybercrime unit tested the devices two weeks ago to better understand the types of crimes smart glasses might be used to commit.
A Meta representative reportedly stated that the company had integrated privacy into its AI glasses from the outset, and noted that “we will continue to enhance our safeguards as the glasses grow more advanced.”
France's data protection authority, CNIL, stated that it had received fewer than 10 complaints concerning the use of smart glasses in the workplace. It did not reveal which brands. It also noted that it was being contacted more and more by businesses seeking clarification on whether they could prohibit smart glasses in the workplace.
According to Nacera Bekhat, head of economic affairs at CNIL, smart glasses present " real challenges" in alerting individuals that they are being recorded and securing necessary consent.
Wearable devices powered by AI are governed by the European Union's AI Act and the General Data Protection Regulation ( GDPR), which establish guidelines for how personal data of individuals may be handled.
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Although French law includes privacy safeguards such as imprisonment for up to a year or fines of €45,000 ( $51,700) for recording someone's image in private without consent, enforcement remains challenging, especially when such content spreads rapidly online, according to CNIL and other legal sources.
A small light on the devices' frames signals that recording is in progress, but human rights organisations argue this shifts the burden onto the individual to avoid being recorded.
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