Nearby Glasses app alerts you if someone nearby is wearing smart glasses

The problem with invisible cameras

One of the toughest parts of living around modern wearables is that many of them look like everyday items, yet they record and process what is happening around you. Smart glasses are a prime example. They often resemble regular eyewear, which means you could be filmed or analyzed without realizing it.

Critics describe this trend as luxury surveillance, where fashionable gadgets quietly capture video, audio, and faces. The concern is not just what owners collect, but that nearby people rarely consent to being recorded. As devices add features like face recognition, the privacy stakes keep rising.

Against that backdrop, a new Android app aims to give bystanders a heads up. It does not stop anyone from recording, but it helps you know when smart glasses are around so you can make informed choices about your surroundings.

Meet Nearby Glasses

Nearby Glasses is a hobbyist-built app that continuously scans for nearby Bluetooth signals from wearable devices. If it detects known identifiers associated with smart glasses or similar always-on gadgets, it sends an alert. In practice, this can include devices made by Meta (including Oakley-branded collaborations) and Snap.

The app arrives at a time when the public pushback against always-recording or listening devices is growing. For many, the issue is consent. Bystanders are rarely asked if they are OK with having their faces, voices, or locations processed by someone else's wearable. Nearby Glasses does not solve the consent problem, but it raises awareness about what is in your immediate environment.

The developer, Yves Jeanrenaud, said they were inspired in part by reporting on wearable surveillance, including how Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses have been used in immigration raids and to film and harass sex workers. Jeanrenaud described smart glasses as an "intolerable intrusion, consent neglecting, horrible piece of tech."

A technical solution to a social problem

Jeanrenaud built Nearby Glasses as both a utility and a form of protest. The motivation, they said, came from "witnessing the sheer scale and inhumane nature of the abuse these smart glasses are involved in." They also pointed to Meta's decision to implement face recognition as a default feature in its smart glasses, which they consider a major risk.

"I consider normal fingerprint detection to be a huge floodgate pushed open for all kinds of privacy-invasive behaviour."

Put simply, the app is a technical response to a social challenge. It cannot reshape norms on consent or stop someone from recording. What it can do is give bystanders better situational awareness, which might help them set boundaries or choose how to engage in public spaces.

How Nearby Glasses works

The app runs on Android and listens for Bluetooth signals that nearby devices broadcast. Many devices include a publicly assigned identifier that is unique to the manufacturer. When Nearby Glasses detects signals linked to known makers of smart glasses, it triggers an alert.

Out of the box, the app looks for identifiers used by companies like Meta and Snap. It also lets users add their own Bluetooth identifiers, which expands detection to other devices or brands. That flexibility is helpful if you want to monitor a broader set of wearables that might be recording or listening.

There are trade-offs. Jeanrenaud says the app can be prone to false positives. For instance, a nearby Meta device might be a virtual reality headset rather than smart glasses, and the app could still alert since they share a manufacturer. In reality, VR headsets are larger and more obvious, so it is easier to tell what kind of device is present. Still, the app cannot distinguish model types on its own. It simply flags the presence of devices from certain makers.

A quick hands-on test

To see how Nearby Glasses behaves in the real world, I installed it on an Android phone and walked around my neighborhood. I did not encounter any smart glasses wearers during that stroll, and no alerts came in.

To push the app further, I added a known Bluetooth manufacturer identifier for Apple (0x004C). That simple change immediately caused a flood of alerts, which was not surprising. In a typical city environment, there are lots of Apple devices broadcasting nearby, from phones to watches to earbuds. The test was not meant to detect smart glasses from Apple, but to verify the app's detection and alerting behavior.

That experiment showed the app was listening and reacting to identifiers as designed. It can be precise when limited to smart-glasses makers, and it can be broad and noisy when you add catch-all identifiers for popular brands.

Strengths and limitations

What the app does well is simple. It reveals the presence of certain Bluetooth-broadcasting wearables that might be recording or analyzing the world around them. It gives you an alert and a better sense of what devices are nearby, which can help you decide how to respond.

What the app cannot do is just as important. It does not tell you whether someone is actively filming, capturing audio, or running face recognition. It does not identify specific models or owners. It only reports that a device from a particular manufacturer is within range.

There are also practical limitations. Not all devices broadcast in a way that is easy to detect, and some rotate identifiers or change behavior depending on settings. If you add broad identifiers, you will likely get lots of alerts, which can be overwhelming. The best experience comes from targeted detection of known smart-glasses brands, paired with some common-sense observation of your surroundings.

Why this matters for everyday privacy

Wearables are getting smaller, more powerful, and more normalized. Features like hands-free video, persistent audio capture, and face recognition by default raise serious questions about how consent works in public spaces. Bystanders often have no idea they are part of someone else’s dataset.

Nearby Glasses sits at the intersection of technology and norms. It does not enforce rules, and it is not a regulator. It simply increases awareness, which can help people advocate for themselves, adjust their behavior, or ask questions when they spot a potential recording device.

On top of that, awareness tools can push broader conversations about etiquette, policy, and design. If more people know smart glasses are around, there is more pressure on makers to build stronger indicators, consent features, or opt-out mechanisms for bystanders. Visibility can drive accountability.

Developer intent and ongoing work

Jeanrenaud frames Nearby Glasses as a desperate act of resistance. The goal is to help at least someone feel more empowered in spaces increasingly crowded with sensors and cameras.

"Of course, it’s a technical solution to a social problem (which is amplified by technology), and it won’t go away anytime soon."

New features are still being added, and there is interest in an iPhone version. Whether that happens depends on spare time and availability. The project is personal, built to meet a need the developer felt was missing in the current privacy landscape.

When asked about the app, Meta and Snap did not comment. That silence does not resolve the underlying tension between product innovation and public consent, but it underscores how much of this debate is happening outside official product channels.

How to use Nearby Glasses responsibly

If you decide to try the app, consider a few practical tips:

• Start with the defaults to focus on smart glasses made by known manufacturers.
• Add identifiers carefully to avoid flooding your phone with alerts from every nearby device.
• Use alerts as a prompt to observe your surroundings and, if needed, ask questions or move to a space where you feel more comfortable.
• Respect others. Awareness tools are for protecting your privacy, not for confrontation.

Responsible use keeps the focus on informed consent and awareness, not escalation. The app is a signal, not a verdict.

The bigger picture

Nearby Glasses is a small, practical step in a complex debate. As devices blend into everyday fashion, the line between curiosity and surveillance blurs. People want helpful technology, but they also want control over how they are captured.

Ultimately, progress will likely require better device design that respects bystanders, stronger social norms around recording in public, and clearer policies on consent. Tools like Nearby Glasses are not a fix, but they make the invisible visible, which is a start.

Key takeaways

• Nearby Glasses is an Android app that scans Bluetooth signals to alert you when smart glasses or similar wearables are nearby.
• It targets identifiers from manufacturers like Meta and Snap, and lets users add custom identifiers to widen detection.
• False positives are possible, such as detecting a VR headset from the same maker, and the app cannot confirm active recording.
• A simple test with Apple’s identifier (0x004C) showed the app works as designed, quickly flagging nearby Apple devices.
• The app is a technical response to a social problem. It boosts awareness, but consent and policy challenges remain.
• There is demand for an iPhone version. Future updates depend on the developer’s time and availability.