Today the “smart glasses” (so they have been called) created by Meta (parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) from the hand of Ray Ban land in Spain. They have a built-in camera and microphone and the fact that have been designed like regular sunglassesit can make it difficult for us to know when a person next to us may be taking photos or recording a video, for example.
The so-called Ray-Ban Stories arrive today in Spain (also in Austria and Belgium and on April 14 they will be in France), They cost 329 euros and are available both on the Ray-Ban website and in stores.. The Ray-Ban Stories made their debut in the US, UK, Canada, Ireland and Italy last September. The arrival in Spain comes hand in hand with new software functions for these glasses and new designs in terms of frame and color.
Let’s take a look at the characteristics of these new glasses to understand what it can mean for our privacy. And it is that they are very discreet and have nothing to do with the Oculus Augmented Reality, very easy to distinguish from normal glasses.
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Characteristics of the new Meta Ray-Bans
These glasses have a dual camera. Specifically, the Ray-Ban Stories incorporate two 5 megapixel cameras in the frame and allow you to take photos and videos of up to 60 seconds (before today’s update, videos could be up to 30 seconds long). The videos up to 60 seconds will be available in early April via an update.
In order for you to know if someone may be taking a photo without permission, you have to know that there is an LED light that activates every time the cameras are on to notify people around that it is being recorded. These videos can be uploaded, also through the glasses connected to the phone, to Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter and other platforms.
On the other hand, they have an audio system integrated in the mount and 3 microphones. According to Meta, they are for listening to your music from any app on your phone, and for receiving calls.
How can you take photos, make videos or access Facebook Messenger? Is by voice commands For now they are only in English. There is no need to use your hands. As explained on the official Ray-Ban website, when voice commands are activated, the person who wants to take a video or photo must say: “Hey Facebook, take a photo” or “Hey Facebook, take a video”. Good indicators so you know if someone is recording without asking you. If you don’t have voice commands, you can also press a mini button on the glasses, on one of the temples.
Those photos are saved on your phone. from hima Facebook View app, an app available on iOS and Androidyou can edit the photos and videos and share them with other apps.
Concerns about privacy
Although since the arrival of camera phones there are more options for someone to record us without realizing it, these discreet glasses, which could just be sunglasses, have raised certain suspicions in terms of privacy. So much so, that the title that Facebook has given to this release is “Designed for privacy, controlled by you.” Already basic, it is striking that they talk about privacy, above all, when we are defining glasses that seem “normal” but have cameras and microphones, super discreet, incorporated.
In September of last year, the ‘Irish DPC’ and the ‘Guarante per la protezione dei dati personali’, the Data Protection organizations of Ireland and Italy, already issued a warning to Mark Zuckerberg’s company. In a statement, the agencies explained that they are “concerned about the means by which people captured in the videos and photos they can receive a warning that they are being recorded”.
The agencies argued that smartphones can also record third parties, but it happens that the phone is visible in that case, while the indicator light is very small. According to what they said, it has not been demonstrated to Data Protection that exhaustive tests have been carried out in the field to guarantee that the indicator light is an effective means of warning. And in this regard, from these agencies they ask Facebook to show the studies and the demonstration that this LED light is enough to alert people and that it is not a method of inadvertently recording others.
Along with today’s launch, Meta has created a campaign in various countries of the European Union to explain how these smart glasses work and** give advice on how to use them “in moderation”**. In a new website they specify, for example, in which situation it is better not to use the capabilities offered by the glasses. Meta recommends turning off the glasses when we enter private places or make it clear to the people around you when you are recording or taking a photo. In other words, as our Xataka colleagues explain, they are based on the goodwill of the users.
On the other hand, Facebook will be able to collect a little more information from its users (as if they had little until now). The company Meta has stated that the Ray-Ban Stories “collect the data necessary for the operation of the glasses, such as the battery status to notify when it is low, the email address and the login password in Facebook to verify that it is you when you enter the Facebook View application, and your WiFi connectivity“.
The user can choose to share more information such as “the number of images you have captured or the time you spend recording videos” to improve the product.