--- title: "Joe Rogan Just Casually Obliterated Mark Zuckerberg" description: "Joe Rogan recently sat down with Meta-formerly-Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to chat about some of the privacy implications of the company's hardware." date: "2022-08-26" modified: "2022-08-26" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/joe-rogan-smart-glasses-mark-zuckerberg" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "facebook" - "joe rogan" - "mark zuckerberg" - "the digest" --- # Joe Rogan Just Casually Obliterated Mark Zuckerberg ![Joe Rogan recently sat down with Meta-formerly-Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to chat about some of the privacy implications of the company's hardware.]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* ## Camera Culture When Joe Rogan — a champion of misinformation who likes to give some of the most [braindead conspiracy nuts]() a platform by hosting them on his podcast — happens to be right, he's right. Rogan [sat down this week]() with [Meta-formerly-Facebook]() CEO Mark Zuckerberg to chat. When the privacy implications of the company's hardware came up, Rogan managed to undermine Zuckerberg's arguments in a depressingly simple way. When Rogan asked Zuckerberg if Facebook's Ray-Ban-branded Stories smart glasses bring "about any privacy concerns," Zuckerberg replied that "we designed it to have a light on it," which, he argued, "is actually a pretty important part of this." The small LED light next to the smart glasses' camera is meant to notify others in public spaces that somebody is recording them — but with one fatal flaw, Rogan pointed out. "Couldn't you just put a piece of tape over the light?" Rogan asked — an otherwise tiny design flaw that could have major privacy implications. Zuckerberg didn't seem to have much of a counterargument in mind. "I guess you could in theory," he stammered. Judgment online was swift. "Mark Zuckerberg’s billion dollar privacy investment defeated by Joe Rogan in ten seconds," one Twitter [quipped]() about the exchange. https://twitter.com/TidefallCapital/status/1562868118506315781 ## Spy Specs The innocuous-looking pair of sunglasses with a built-in camera [were released]() by Facebook last September — but they didn't exactly fly off the shelves. Instead, the immediate reaction from the media was almost unanimous: not only [are they creepy](), but there couldn't have been a worse brand behind them. After all, Facebook has practically become synonymous with [privacy scandals]() and [personal data leaks]() over the years. Rogan is far from the first to point out the simple workaround. Shortly after their release, the smart glasses kicked off a lengthy privacy debate. Facebook's defense at the time was to argue that taping over the LED light would be a violation of the glasses' terms of service agreement, as [*BuzzFeed News* reported at the time](). In other words, tampering with the light wouldn't really have any meaningful real world implications. The kicker? It's been [known for years]() that Zuckerberg himself tape over his webcam for privacy reasons. **More on the glasses:** *[Taping Over Camera LED on Our Glasses is a TOS Violation]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()