New York Bans Smart Glasses in All Courtrooms Out of Concern for Privacy

Beginning July 20, all courtrooms in New York will ban smart glasses entirely, according to a memo from the Office of Court Administration. This will cover the much-maligned Ray-Ban Meta and Meta Glasses, as well as any glasses or headsets with recording technology.

Meta’s smart glasses collaborations with Ray-Ban and Oakley were initially quite well received for the frames’ sleek look compared to classic examples of the technology, like Google Glass. But pushback has been growing against stealthy recording, particularly as users have been drilling out the LED that signals when recording is taking place. Now, out of concern that they could jeopardize a court case by revealing the identities of jurors or witnesses, New York is banning them entirely.

The court memo explicitly bans any glasses or headsets with built-in recording technology. That goes after Meta’s glasses, but also covers those from other brands like Xreal and RayNeo.

Credit: Anne Hayes via Syracuse.com

A photo shared by Syracuse.com shows a new anti-smart-glasses poster at the Honorable James C. Torney III Criminal Courthouse in Syracuse, New York. The poster makes it clear that any recording-capable glasses are prohibited, and anyone wearing them will not be allowed entry. Similarly, it advises anyone who uses prescription-lens smart glasses to bring an alternative form of eyewear to the court if they want to be granted entry.

This is just one more example of the souring sentiment towards smart glasses in recent months, particularly regarding those with recording functionality. Some have branded them “pervert glasses” for their ability to record people without their knowledge, potentially providing an easier means of capturing them in compromising situations. This isn’t particularly new or surprising; after all, those who wore Google Glass in the early 2010s were often called “Glassholes.”

Facing looming pushback against the technology, Meta recently introduced an update to its Ray-Ban Meta glasses that will prevent recording if the LED is damaged or removed. However, while Meta says the update is mandatory and is already rolling out to users around the world, it’s unclear how it could prevent users from circumventing it by simply taking their glasses offline and not applying the update.

With Meta having sold over seven million pairs of its smart glasses in 2025 alone, there are many potentially modified glasses out there that could continue to pose a privacy threat to anyone caught in their lens.

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