“I’m recording you right now and you probably can’t tell, because there’s no annoying little blinking light on these glasses,” a creator boasting nearly half a million followers declares in an August TikTok video. “I’m gonna be the first one to tell you, go save that $400, and grab some of these from TikTok Shop.”
A disclaimer on the video denotes that the creator is “eligible for commission,” meaning that if a follower clicks through a shopping tag included on the video, he may get an affiliate kickback. That shopping tag directs viewers to a TikTok Shop page hawking a range of wireless camera- and AI-equipped glasses. The glasses appear to be on perma-sale, and go for about $40 to $100.
It’s just one of many TikTok Shop pages that market far-cheaper knockoffs — or “dupes” — of the tech giant Meta’s AI Glasses. The imitations are sold on TikTok Shop, Amazon, Temu, Walmart, and other marketplaces under a rotating mill of junky brand names, and are expressly promoted by many affiliate commission-seeking creators on TikTok as cheaper alternatives to Meta’s market-leading spectacles, which go for several hundred dollars.
But the price difference isn’t the only feature that some creators point to as a reason to pick up the knockoffs. In some cases, according to influencer videos we reviewed, a key part of the pitch is that unlike Meta’s smart glasses, the cheaper spectacles allegedly don’t feature a recording light designed to signal to those around a wearer that they’re being recorded.
“I’m recording you right now and you probably can’t even tell, because these don’t have that annoying blinking light,” another influencer says in a video from March in a strikingly similar message. “Coming from someone with the Meta Bans and the TikTok Shop version, I’ma just say, get the TikTok Shop version, because you’re gonna be saving your money, and they do the same thing.”
That cheaper dupes for the Meta glasses could be used to discreetly record others in their most private moments has even been used as a marketing hook in promotional content shared by influencers.
One couple, a man and a woman whose TikTok account is dedicated to shopping content designed to garner affiliate commissions on TikTok Shop purchases, have made several videos promoting less-expensive smart glasses. In some of these videos, they market what they claim are light-free glasses by pretending that the woman is unaware that her partner was recording her during sex due to the lack of an indicator light.
“Whew! Dang, baby. That was real good — and a good video, too,” the man tells the woman in one such video. The woman, who’s filmed point-of-view-style as she pretends to zip up her pants, feigns confusion. “Video?” she asks.
“Oh, you didn’t know?” the man responds. The woman, still looking confused, notes that “there’s no flash.”
“Baby, these aren’t those $400 ones, okay,” the man shoots back, before launching into a rundown of the cheaper recording shades’ features.
Most of the cheaper brands being promoted in the videos we reviewed appear to be connected to the same app: HeyCyan, an AI service that promises to make “smart glasses truly smart.” The HeyCyan app is developed by China-based company called Shenzhen Qingcheng, and is currently being investigated by the Australian government, which says it’s seeking clarity over the company’s privacy practices.
We sent messages to several TikTok Shop sellers linked to by creators. Only one brand, LUSBY, responded. It told us — using an email address linked to a website for a leaf blower, for some reason — that it “does not currently operate an official TikTok Shop” and that “the TikTok accounts you shared are not affiliated with us, and we have not authorized or paid these creators to promote our products.”
“Unfortunately, we have encountered unauthorized sellers and accounts using our brand name and promotional content without our permission. This is an issue we take seriously,” the smart-glasses-and-leaf-blower venture continued. It also insisted that its glasses “do have a recording indicator light.”
“We do not promote our products as devices designed for recording people without their knowledge, and we do not endorse misleading claims about their features,” the company added.
To that end, some creators’ claims about the lack of indicator lights are questionable. Some of the featured glasses very much appear to be outfitted with what looks like an LED light, and in some videos, commenters claiming to have purchased the same pair have clamored that the lights are there and functional.
In other videos, rather than insinuating that the indicator light is nonfunctional, creators have marketed knockoffs by hyping up the fact that the LED lights can easily be blocked by inexpensive stickers.
“If I’m having a conversation with you in public bro, you would not know I’m recording you bro,” one creator shares in an “eligible for commission” video from August. “I’m recording you now but you can’t see that, because I got that light-blocker right here.”
In the comments of one video we reviewed, a creator claimed that her glasses even came with a cover-up sticker to block the indicator light.
“I’m recording you and you didn’t even know it,” a different creator says in a video posted in April, in yet another extremely similar worded message. “I’m also recording you to show you that there’s really no difference between the TikTok AI glasses and the Metas.”
Asked in a comment if “the lights come on while recording,” the creator wrote back that “they do not,” adding in a follow-up comment that they “come with cover-ups… so the light won’t be seen.”
Though tech companies including Google and Snapchat have been trying and failing to popularize smart glasses since the 2010s, Meta’s smart glasses, created in partnership with the popular eyewear brands Ray-Ban and Oakley — and soon, the luxury fashion juggernaut Prada — have been the first to achieve significant adoption.
But as their popularity has grown, Meta’s smart glasses have increasingly been caught at the center of a privacy firestorm. In addition to concerns about Meta’s handling of sensitive data and revelations about unreleased facial recognition features, many wearers have used the tech to covertly record others in public and even private spaces, giving rise to phrases like “the Ray-Ban Meta creep” and the disparaging moniker “pervert glasses.” Harassing “pickup artists” have recorded themselves approaching women in the street and recording them without their consent, while other influencers have filmed themselves bothering workers at their place of business — footage that is then published online, publicizing the harassment for content’s sake.
As Futurism reported in August, middle and high school boys have started using smart glasses to replicate this style of content at schools, sharing videos of them harassing peers — mostly girls — to the point of frustration and violence.
In the face of abuse, Meta has moved to kick influencers posting harassing content off its platforms. It also says it’s planning to release a camera-free version of the glasses — though they’ll still record audio — and has made efforts to crack down on widespread tampering with the indicator light, which has become a cottage industry for handy side-hustlers seeking to earn some cash by putting glasses into “stealth mode.”
Even so, Meta has pointed to its inclusion of the flashing indicator light as evidence of its commitment to privacy, and is clearly seeking to quash abusive behavior and salvage its glasses’ reputation. Meanwhile, regardless of whether cheap dupes actually include indicator lights — or if, alternatively, theirs are just much easier to damage or block — it’s clear that some companies and creators view the prospect of covert, light-free recordings as a need to be filled in the market, rather than an abusive practice that needs to be curbed.
“You didn’t even know I’m recording. Discreet,” yet another creator announces in a promotional video, this time in a March video marketing what he claims are light-free smart glasses. To show proof of the camera’s quality, the creator shares a recording captured at a local gym, with several other gym-goers visible in the shot.
“Perfect for traveling, content creating,” the influencer continues, “and people who want to be nosy.”
More on Meta glasses: Teen Boys Are Using Meta Glasses to Harass and Bully Girls at High Schools and Middle Schools