Social media giant Meta has released its co-branded Ray-Ban and Oakley smart glasses in New Zealand. The designer AI eyewear went on sale Friday, starting at $809 for the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3 range, arriving amid rising international privacy concerns and overseas public bans on the devices.
Meta has expanded its wearable technology footprint into New Zealand, introducing smart glasses co-branded with prominent eyewear brands Ray-Ban and Oakley. The devices hit the local market on Friday, according to reporting by Stuff.
The tech giant, which owns platforms including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads, is offering the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3 glasses starting at $809. Alongside the premium designer line, budget-conscious consumers have also gravitated toward cheaper alternatives, such as Kmart New Zealand’s $99 camera glasses, which have sold out online.
Privacy Concerns And Covert Filming Risks
While wearable smart technology has been on the market for several years, privacy anxieties have escalated as the hardware becomes cheaper, more widely available, and increasingly indistinguishable from ordinary daily eyewear. University of Canterbury law lecturer Cassandra Mudgway noted that the technology facilitates remarkably easy covert filming.
Mudgway highlighted that overseas incidents have already involved women being secretly recorded and repurposed as social media content. She warned that if similar incidents occur in New Zealand, current legal frameworks may offer surprisingly limited protection, particularly when individuals are filmed in public spaces.
Backlash against the devices is mounting internationally, with some critics dubbing them pervert glasses
. Supporting these concerns, a University of Sydney study examining smart-glasses-filmed videos posted to Instagram found that 60% of sampled clips could be classified as potential harassment.
International Restrictions And The Debate Over Recording Indicators
Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses incorporate an LED light intended to signal to others when the device is actively recording or capturing photographs. However, Tom Sulston, deputy chair of Australia’s Digital Rights Watch, cautioned that these recording indicators can potentially be disabled or obscured. While Sulston supports targeted restrictions on the technology, he acknowledged that enforcement remains a significant challenge.
Across the Tasman Sea, the topic has triggered widespread regulatory responses. Businesses and local councils in Australia are implementing their own restrictions due to customer worries about covert public recording. Adelaide University law lecturer Mark Giancaspro noted that these rules vary across different councils, states, and territories.
Brisbane City Council established itself as the first Australian council to restrict the devices at public pools, updating its entry terms to prohibit smart device recordings made without consent. Similar measures have been adopted in the United Kingdom, where a major pub chain, select theatres, Comic-Con, specific schools, and the home base of the UK’s nuclear submarines have banned the eyewear.
Despite calls for an import ban on the devices, Australian Attorney-General Michelle Rowland has resisted those measures. Instead, she encouraged local councils to regulate the technology in public spaces while broader federal privacy reforms are developed.
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