German Digital Rights Group Files Criminal Complaint Over Meta AI Glasses

A German digital rights organization has lodged a criminal complaint over the sale of Meta's AI-powered smart glasses, arguing the devices breach the country's strict privacy regulations.

HateAid, a non-profit focused on digital violence, filed the complaint on Wednesday with the Frankfurt-based digital crime prosecution unit ZIT. The complaint names Meta's management, units of spectacles maker EssilorLuxottica including Ray-Ban, and retailers Fielmann, Apollo-Optik, Mister Spex, and MediaMarkt.

The group's managing director, Josephine Ballon, said the glasses leave no room for escape from surveillance. "You have to expect at any moment to be filmed and then exposed on the internet," she said.

HateAid's complaint is based on a federal digital data protection law that prohibits the sale of communication devices designed to record people covertly. The group says it has seen a rise in image-based digital violence, which often targets women, and that smart glasses disguise surveillance technology as an everyday object.

Germany's digital communications regulator, the Federal Network Agency (BNetza), said it is closely monitoring the smart glasses market but is not formally investigating any breaches at this time. A spokesperson noted that the ownership, import, or sale of smart glasses is not banned as long as the recording function is clearly visible, such as through an optical signal.

Mister Spex said it had not been officially notified of the complaint and that it takes privacy protection seriously. The other companies and ZIT did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The complaint follows a July report by broadcaster SWR that a Hamburg-based state privacy protection agency was taking legal steps against the use of smart glasses.