Connected glasses: What do we Really Have the Right (or not) to Film and Photograph?

We see them on more and more faces. Resembling classics glasses from sight, sun or sport, their branches incorporate small cameras almost invisible to the naked eye. Ray-ban Meta, Okley or Samsung… Connected glasses allow you to summon the AI in order to obtain information: artificial intelligence identifies what we look at and informs us.

But these famous glasses are also used to photograph and film by triggering shots with a simple flick of the index finger. Tempted to play spy? Be careful, filming is not (always) acting!

Exciting and disturbing

The latest gadget high-tech fashion arouses as much curiosity as apprehension. On the one hand, the promises of connected glasses like Ray-Ban Meta (the best known) are in many ways exciting. Being able to have information directly on an integrated screen at any time – if they have it – or in audio, in response to a question asked of them, thus opens up the field of possibilities. Even if this AI function can still be improved, we imagine that the technology will continue to advance.

Being able to photograph or film your little family, an event, a show, without taking your smartphone out of your pocket, is also one of promising use cases.

But on the other hand, this functionality also raises concerns: anyone who owns these glasses can easily make recordings without us realizing it. Because even if a little red light comes on on their mount when they are filming, not sure that we will notice it. Especially since a malicious person can quite easily hide the light…

Thus, according to a survey published in May 2026 by the CNIL (National Commission for Information Technology and Liberties)* 67% of those surveyed believe that these glasses represent a risk of invasion of privacy. Worse: 9 out of 10 French people would find it disturbing to be photographed or filmed with connected glasses. A feeling that is even clearer among women (at 65%) and women aged 50 and over (at 67%)!

Similar to smartphones

In France, connected glasses are compared to smartphones. Their use is, in principle, subject to GDPR and the Data Protection Act. Thus, a user of connected glasses must notify and obtain the consent of any person they wish to film or photograph so that this capture does not take place without their knowledge. Among the good practices it promotes, the CNIL also invites owners of “smart” glasses not to film in places where “people do not expect to be captured, particularly intimate or sensitive spaces”. Hear changing rooms, toilets…

This may make sense to the majority, but we can imagine that some smart guys didn’t wait to try the experiment… Swimming pools are currently considering banning these glasses in their enclosures. On another note, New York State has declared a total ban on glasses in 1,240 courts. Many universities also ban them from their exam centers…

Up to 45,000 euros fine

As a user of connected glasses, we also avoid wearing them in the workplace where they can raise confidentiality issues. However, filming in public places remains possible, if it remains in a strictly personal setting, without targeting one or more people in particular. Filming is one thing. Sharing your views is another.

Therefore, it is good to remember that any distribution of images or videos without the consent of the people who appear in an identifiable manner is punishable. This is called image rights infringement. Article 226-1 of the Penal Code punishes in particular with one year’s imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 € the act of violating the privacy of the private life of others by fixing, recording or transmitting, without the consent of the latter, the image of a person in a private place. In short, before pressing the shutter button, it is imperative to think twice…

* Carried out in the field by Toluna/Harris Interactive from January 22 to 29, 2026 on a sample of 2,128 people representative of the French population aged 18 and over.