Google’s new smart glasses, like Meta’s, light up to indicate when they’re recording. But once you know someone is recording, what do you do next?
It’s one of several key privacy issues that Google and other tech companies are under pressure to address as they bring new AI-powered glasses to market. Google announced Thursday that smart glasses developed in collaboration with Samsung and eyewear designers Warby Parker and Gentle Monster would launch on December 10. The release comes after Meta glasses sparked widespread controversy over their ability to discreetly record others, leading to bans in some locations in cities like New York and London.
None of this is lost on Google. The company says its glasses have additional privacy protections, such as preventing the glasses from capturing faces when the camera is used to interact with Google’s AI agent, Gemini. But that still hasn’t solved the main privacy problem: Many people are generally uncomfortable with glasses that can record them without their consent, even with an indicator light. And it could deal a major blow to the AI ambitions of companies like Google and Meta.
Juston Payne, Google’s senior director of product management, told CNN that the company is exploring new privacy features for its smart glasses, such as more ways to alert passersby when glasses are nearby.
But these systems are still in the early stages of research and development and may not adequately address all privacy issues.
Google’s new glasses are intended to make interactions with Gemini easier. They have cameras and microphones that allow users to take photos and videos and talk to Google’s AI agent without taking out their phone.
During a demonstration of the glasses, CNN asked Gemini to suggest a mocktail recipe based on a list of ingredients on a table, for example.
The glasses come in styles designed by Warby Parker and Gentle Monster, with the former starting at $395 and the latter starting at $449.
“The ability to see the world, hear the world, feel the world around the user and also have quick, real-time interactions with Gemini has always been one of the compelling use cases” for smart glasses, Shahram Izadi, who leads product development and strategy for devices such as smart glasses at Google, told CNN.
Smart glasses are becoming more and more popular despite privacy concerns. Shipments increased 54% year over year in the second quarter of 2026, according to market research firm The International Data Corporation, growing much faster than other types of wearable technology like wireless earbuds. EssilorLuxxotica, the eyewear giant that Meta partners with for its glasses, said earlier this year that 7 million pairs of its AI glasses were sold in 2025.
Still, many consumers are wary of smart glasses because of the privacy concerns they present, according to Benjamin Chan, an analyst at market research firm ABI Research.
Google says its glasses have tamper-proof light, as well as other protections. When you use the camera to ask Gemini questions, the faces of people nearby are redacted before the images are sent to Gemini. This only applies to situations where the camera is being used for a Gemini investigation, and not when a user is recording videos or photos to save to their camera roll.
The data captured by the camera is encrypted, Google says, and is not used for ad targeting or training its models. Apps must also ask for permission before accessing the glasses’ camera.
The company is exploring other privacy measures, Payne told CNN in an interview before the glasses’ launch. Google is exploring two areas: more ways to notify users that glasses are nearby and possible location-based privacy features.
Restricting camera functionality based on location would be tricky, because the user could potentially get around this by putting their phone in airplane mode, Payne said. And it would likely raise privacy concerns because of how location data is used.
The company also explored a phone notification system to notify people when the glasses are nearby, similar to third-party apps that already do this. But developing a system that’s actually useful and doesn’t spam users’ phones with notifications is a challenge. And just alerting passersby doesn’t do much, Payne said.
“It can actually feel strangely disempowering to the extent that you’re like, ‘What am I supposed to do now?'” he said.
A person might not feel safe asking a stranger to stop recording them, or an employee might not want to confront their boss in the office, said Calli Schroeder, director of the AI and human rights program at the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
Privacy experts agree that these challenges exist, but they also say that an LED light is not enough to protect viewers’ privacy. A visually impaired user wouldn’t be able to see it, for example, and those unfamiliar with the technology might not know what this light means. Izadi pointed out that glasses like Google’s could potentially signal to a visually impaired user if someone nearby is wearing glasses with the recording light enabled.
Earlier this year, a New York Times report that Meta was working on facial recognition for its glasses increased privacy concerns about the technology. Izadi told CNN that Google has no plans to add facial recognition to its glasses now or in the future.
Payne said additional privacy measures are still in the research phase while the company continues to test them. He did not provide additional details or a release schedule.
“That doesn’t mean we don’t pursue them,” he said. “We are, we just want to make sure that when they are deployed, they are truly robust.”
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