Smart glasses filming of women probed in France

Paris prosecutors said Tuesday they had opened several investigations after complaints that women were filmed on streets without consent using smart glasses and that videos were published online.

The Paris public prosecutor's office said the complaints related to privacy violations linked to the use of smart glasses. It did not say which brands were involved. Prosecutors pointed to a growing social media trend in which women are filmed on the street with smart glasses without consent and the videos are posted online.

Some investigations have also been opened for sexual assault when alleged acts included non-consensual sexual contact, prosecutors said. Under French law, the privacy offence can be punished by up to two years in prison and a 45,000-euro fine.

The prosecutor's office said its cybercrime division tested smart glasses in September to identify possible cybercrime-related offences. Potential offences cited included theft of a cryptocurrency wallet recovery phrase, which could allow criminals to steal funds.

The e-Enfance association, which operates France's national hotline for victims of online abuse, said it had received around 20 reports from women as of September 8, most involving Meta glasses. The group said cases reported to its hotline often followed a pattern in which a content creator approaches a young woman or girl in a public place, discreetly films her with smart glasses, then shares the footage on social media, mainly TikTok.

E-Enfance said those filmed often become targets of ridicule, misogynistic insults and threats. It cited the case of a teenage girl filmed in Paris during an annual street music festival whose video was posted on TikTok, Instagram and X and who later received hateful comments and death threats.

Smart glasses can take photos, record video, play music, make calls, translate text or interact with an AI assistant. Meta's smart glasses, developed with Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica, sold seven million pairs in 2025. Other companies, including Google and Snap, are preparing AI-powered glasses.

Meta has said it has taken multiple steps to prevent tampering with a blinking LED light on its glasses that is designed to indicate when recording is taking place.