Apple’s Smart Glasses Will Put Its Privacy Reputation to the Test

Apple is still a year away from releasing its first smartglasses, but the company is already brainstorming solutions to the privacy problem that has been dogging other brands in the space. 

The public’s acceptance of camera-equipped smartglasses is going to be contingent on how companies like Apple go about alleviating worries about unauthorized recording. Handled poorly, the same concerns could undermine the reputation for privacy that Apple has spent over a decade building. 

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is planning to debut its smart glasses at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2027, with the product going on sale before the end of that year.

That’s a delay of several months from the previously reported release date of early 2027, but Bloomberg reports it’s because Apple is spending extra time fine-tuning both the product and the messaging around it. The teams involved in the project are treating privacy as a top priority. 

Apple’s Privacy Playbook Only Goes So Far

Apple has several privacy measures in the works for its upcoming smart glasses. Bloomberg reports that this likely includes emphasizing on-device processing, avoiding facial recognition, and steering clear of an always-on mode that’s constantly analyzing a wearer’s surroundings.  

Those design choices are in keeping with the company’s current approach. While Apple’s privacy page doesn’t explain how its smart glasses will work, it does stress that Apple Intelligence is “designed to protect your privacy at every step.” It also says on-device processing allows Apple Intelligence “to be aware of your data without collecting your data.”

If the tech giant applies this approach to its smart glasses, it could mean they’d analyze images, audio, or details about the wearer’s surroundings locally instead of first uploading that information to Apple’s remote servers.

Keeping that data on a wearer’s device would limit what the company and outside reviewers could access, store, or examine. While that could give the person wearing the glasses confidence that a photo, video, or visual AI request won’t automatically end up part of a larger data-collection system, it does little to solve the bystander problem. 

A bystander can’t see whether processing is happening locally or in the cloud. Even if they could, it wouldn’t matter much if they were being filmed without their consent. When a person is wearing smart glasses, it’s almost impossible to tell whether they’re recording you, an object in front of them, or nothing at all. 

That means that even a system that doesn’t store any footage can feel intrusive if people can’t tell the difference.

And that creates a privacy problem Apple hasn’t typically had to think about. It can give its customers all the privacy settings it wants. However, smart glasses also affect people who didn’t buy the product, didn’t accept its terms, and didn’t choose to stand in front of its camera. 

Recording Lights Don’t Guarantee Consent

Most camera-equipped smart glasses come equipped with a recording light that’s supposed to alert bystanders when it’s in use. 

Meta says all of its AI glasses have a capture LED that blinks when the wearer takes a photo or records video. If the light is covered or if the company detects physical tampering or destruction of the LED, it says it’ll disable the camera. 

Apple is reportedly planning to implement similar privacy protections. Most would agree that a recording indicator is a good start. However, it still places most of the burden on the bystander. 

The bystander has to notice the light, understand what it means, be able to see it from where they’re standing, and trust it is an accurate indicator of what the glasses are actually doing. And then, if they’re not comfortable with being recorded, there’s still the question of how to deal with the situation.

Even when video isn’t being stored, there are concerns about what the glasses do with the data. Meta’s unreleased NameTag feature has been criticized because it can identify people who never agreed to be scanned. Since the image isn’t being stored, there’s no outward indication that facial recognition software is in use.

The belief that smart glasses wearers are using them to record others without their consent has become so widespread that many have taken to calling these devices “pervert glasses.” That reputation isn’t entirely unfounded. Even Instagram is taking action and is now removing content where Meta glasses are used to covertly record and harass strangers, including pickup videos and pranks targeting service workers. 

Apple’s experience with AirTags, which the company had to equip with additional anti-stalking safeguards after launch, also shows that companies can’t anticipate every way a new device might be misused.

The Safest Glasses May Be the Least Appealing

Bloomberg reports that Apple has considered taking drastic measures during the prototyping process. One option would remove the camera entirely, while the other would allow the glasses to use the camera to analyze the wearer’s surroundings and enable other AI features, but without the option to take photos or record video.

Both of these options would almost certainly reduce the risk of covert recording. At the same time, they’d both weaken one of the biggest selling points of smart glasses, which many companies are positioning as a smartphone replacement.

The ability to take hands-free first-person photos and videos is a major part of Meta’s marketing for its glasses. Wearers can use the glasses to take photos and videos of their children, trips, concerts, and sporting events without ever having to take out their phone.

If Apple gets rid of that capability, it’ll have to rely more on Siri, audio, calls, navigation, and visual intelligence to make the glasses useful. 

Making the camera AI-only would allow it to identify objects or places, but it could still create its own trust problems. Someone looking at the glasses still wouldn’t have an easy way of knowing whether the camera is actually recording or just analyzing the surroundings without saving anything. 

Apple’s strong privacy track record could give it an advantage as it enters the smart glasses category, but it also raises expectations. 

Apple customers may be more willing to believe the company will keep data collection to a minimum, not use facial recognition, and process sensitive information on the device. However, bystanders will still need protections they can see and understand. 

We won’t know how Apple balances those issues until its smart glasses come out next year. Part of the company’s challenge will be making people who never chose to use its glasses comfortable around those wearing them. And no privacy statement, no matter how carefully written, can do that on its own.