Meta’s smart glasses have officially become so controversial that even Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) doesn’t want them around. Well, at least not the consumer version.
In a memo issued Aug. 18, acting ICE Director David Venturella told employees that Meta’s camera-equipped glasses count as personal body-worn cameras and therefore cannot be worn in federal workplaces.
“The use of Meta Glasses or similar devices could unintentionally capture, record or transmit sensitive information, potentially compromising privacy and legal protections,” Venturella wrote, according to The New York Times.
The rule applies to all ICE employees, not only agents conducting raids or interacting with the public. It also covers similar personal devices capable of recording audio or video.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson emphasized that the agency is not introducing a new policy. “Personally owned body-worn cameras and unauthorized recording are prohibited, as they always have been,” the spokesperson told The Times. Meta declined to comment.
ICE and Border Patrol personnel have repeatedly been spotted wearing their own Meta smart glasses during immigration operations and protests. A March investigation by The Independent found sightings of DHS agents wearing the glasses in at least six states. In some cases, agents appeared to use them to photograph or record members of the public.
Footage examined by 404 Media showed a Border Patrol agent recording an immigration raid with the glasses’ indicator light illuminated, despite DHS rules that bar employees from recording with personal devices.
The issue isn’t simply that the glasses contain a camera. ICE already has an official body-camera policy that governs when agency-issued devices should be activated, how their footage is stored, and when employees can review recordings.
The problem with employees bringing their own smart glasses is that ICE loses control of the footage. Recordings could end up on a personal phone or pass through Meta’s platform, leaving the agency with little oversight of who can access them, whether they are preserved as evidence, or what other sensitive information they might capture.
Those concerns are hardly unique to ICE. Meta’s glasses look similar to ordinary Ray-Bans but can capture photos and video from the wearer’s point of view. A small white light is supposed to signal when the camera is recording, though critics argue that the indicator is easy to overlook — and can potentially be circumvented.
That discreet design has helped turn the glasses into a privacy nightmare. Creators and pickup artists have used them to film strangers for social media content, sometimes attracting millions of views before the person recorded knows the video exists.
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The backlash has moved beyond angry comment sections (where many have dubbed the glasses as “pervert glasses”). Businesses, court systems, and conferences have begun restricting camera-equipped glasses, while Apple has reportedly delayed introducing its own version as it develops additional privacy protections and tries to distinguish its product from Meta’s.
The irony is that DHS wants smart glasses of its own. Its fiscal 2027 budget proposal sought $7.5 million for new enforcement technologies, including prototypes capable of providing agents with real-time information and biometric identification. Democratic senators urged the department to abandon the plan, citing the risk of agents scanning people without their knowledge. DHS has not detailed how the glasses or their data would be managed.
For now, ICE employees will have to leave Meta’s glasses at home. But the next pair agents wear could come directly from the government…and know far more about the people standing in front of them.
