One of the main problems with “luxury surveillance” devices such as smart glasses with video recording cameras is that they are often indistinguishable from ordinary glasses, meaning you could be being recorded without even knowing it.
But now there’s an app that can detect and alert you when someone nearby is wearing smart glasses or potentially other technology that’s always recording.
The aptly named Android app Near glassescontinuously scans for nearby signals emitted by Bluetooth-enabled technology, such as wearable devices made by Meta (and Oakley) and Snap.
The app comes as there is a growing backlash against always-on recording or listening devices, which critics say process information about people nearby who don’t give their consent.
Yves Jeanrenaud, who made the app, spoke for the first time 404 Media about the project and said he was partially inspired to build Nearby Glasses after reading the independent publication’s report on wearable tracking devices, including how Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses were used in immigration raids and yes they film and harass sex workers.
On the app’s project page, Jeanrenaud is described smart glasses as “intolerable intrusion, neglect of consent, horrible technology”.
Jeanrenaud told TechCrunch in an email that his motivation came from “witnessing the sheer scale and inhumane nature of the abuse these smart glasses are involved in.” Jeanrenaud also mentioned Meta’s decision to implement facial recognition as a default feature in its smart glasses, “which I think is a huge gate that opens for all kinds of privacy-infringing behavior.”
The app works by listening for nearby Bluetooth signals that contain a publicly assigned identifier unique to the manufacturer of the Bluetooth device. If the app detects a Bluetooth signal from a nearby hardware device made by Meta or Snap, the app will send the user a notification. (The app also allows users to add their own specific Bluetooth identifiers, allowing the user to detect a wider range of wearable tracking devices.)
Jeanrenaud said the app can be prone to false positives. This means the app can detect a nearby virtual reality headset made by Meta and alert the user thinking it’s a pair of smart glasses made by the same device maker. That said, VR headsets are usually larger and more obvious to someone wearing the device.
To test this, I loaded the app on an Android phone and walked around my city neighborhood and (to my surprise) found no smartglass users and received no notification.
But since the app allows it, I added a specific Bluetooth ID (0x004C), which allowed me to search for nearby Apple-made devices — and my test device was immediately flooded with notifications (as you’d expect), likely picking up every Apple device near me.
This showed that the application is working as designed.
Jeanrenaud is still adding new features and said there is demand for an iPhone app, but that it depends on free time and availability.
Speaking about the app, Jeanrenaud said: “Of course, it’s a technical solution to a social problem (which is amplified by technology) and it’s not going away anytime soon,” and described the app as a “desperate act of resistance, hoping it would at least help someone.”
Representatives for Meta and Snap did not respond to TechCrunch’s requests for comment.
