Law enforcement agencies across the U.S. have expressed concern that smart glasses could be used to secretly record officers and facilities or aid in crimes and acts of terrorism. Memos expressing concerns about Meta smart glasses originated from the DHS’s joint counterterrorism assessment team and fusion centers in San Diego, California, Tennessee, Virginia, Maine, and New York.

The New York Police Department’s counterterrorism unit issued a memo in January 2025 warning officers about Ray-Ban Meta glasses as a potential security and counterintelligence threat. The NYPD memo stated that the glasses may appear as ordinary prescription eyewear. It cautioned that arrested individuals could use smart glasses equipped with cameras and microphones to record inside police facilities.

The ability to covertly record inside law enforcement or detention facilities could result in a security risk if proprietary information about cell layouts, camera placements, or officer patrol routines is released, the memo stated. Officers were directed to conduct thorough inspections of all eyewear permitted within inmate cells and to report individuals acting in a suspicious manner observed wearing what may be smart glasses.

A January 2025 NYPD memo cited the New Year’s Day terror attack in New Orleans, where a man rammed his truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street, killing 14 and wounding 35 people. The FBI alerted local agencies that the perpetrator of the New Orleans attack biked around Bourbon Street twice at the end of 2024 wearing smart glasses. The FBI alleged the perpetrator conducted pre-attack target reconnaissance. Law enforcement agencies caution that smart glasses may be used to aid in planning or reconnaissance for violent acts of terrorism or hostile pre-operational surveillance.

In August 2025, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency stated that smart glasses qualify as body-worn cameras and cannot be worn in the federal workspace. The ICE memo stated that the use of Meta Glasses or similar devices could unintentionally capture, record or transmit sensitive information. Federal agencies have barred their employees from using smart glasses in the workplace.

Maine’s fusion center distributed a memo in June 2026 stating that the potential for smart glasses to be used by residents to conduct surveillance has introduced additional risks in Department of Corrections and law enforcement facilities. The Maine fusion center memo stated that some smart glasses can leverage AI software including facial recognition, which could lead to doxing of publicly available information or connections to law enforcement officers. In June 2026, Meta released additional smart glasses called Meta Glasses.

A video taken with smart glasses and posted to TikTok in July 2025 showed the interior of a South Carolina detention center. The TikTok video filmed a shower, holding cells, an overcrowded cafeteria, and several detainees sleeping, eating, or walking. The South Carolina detention center featured in the TikTok video had been the subject of a federal investigation over unsafe conditions. Meta smart glasses have a small blinking light in the corner of the frame that activates when recording.

Meta spokesperson Dina El-Kassaby said that every pair has a bright white LED that blinks when a photo or video is taken for the gallery, it cannot be turned off, and if someone covers or tampers with the LED, the camera is disabled. El-Kassaby argued that the perpetrator could have filmed the French Quarter with any other recording device including a phone. Ryan Shapiro, executive director of Property of the People, said that these agencies surveil the public incessantly, but the moment the public can watch them back, it is deemed a security threat. Shapiro added that when only the government is allowed to hold the camera, that is not security, it is impunity. Evan Greer, executive director of Fight for the Future, said that surveillance makes all of us less safe. Greer also said there is no such thing as Meta glasses that are only for the good guys.