App Alerts You to Nearby Smart Glasses Using Radio Fingerprints
▼ Summary
– The proliferation of smart glasses from companies like Meta and RayNeo raises significant privacy concerns, particularly regarding covert recording and future facial recognition capabilities.
– A new free, open-source Android app called Nearby Glasses detects nearby smart glasses by identifying their unique Bluetooth manufacturer codes.
– The app’s creator, academic Yves Jeanrenaud, developed it due to concerns about the power dynamics of covert recording and digital abuse.
– The detection method has limitations, including a limited range and potential false positives from other devices made by the same manufacturer.
– While still an imperfect early-stage tool, the app represents a form of grassroots resistance to the widespread rollout of smart glasses by major tech companies.
As smart glasses from companies like Meta, TCL, and RayNeo become more common, a new privacy concern is emerging. These devices, often indistinguishable from regular eyewear, can potentially record video and audio without clear consent. A new, free Android app called Nearby Glasses aims to address this by alerting users when these devices are nearby, offering a tool for personal awareness in an increasingly surveillant landscape.
The app was created by Yves Jeanrenaud, a sociology and gender studies professor who also dabbles in software development. His academic focus on power dynamics made him immediately skeptical of smart glasses, particularly their potential for covert recording. This concern, combined with years of observing digital abuse trends, motivated him to build a practical countermeasure.
Nearby Glasses operates by scanning for unique Bluetooth identifiers. All Bluetooth devices are assigned specific alphanumeric codes by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), which are tied to the manufacturer. For instance, glasses made by Luxottica for Meta carry a code linked to that company. The app detects these codes within a range of roughly 10 to 50 feet, depending on the environment, and notifies the user. It doesn’t provide an exact location or identify the wearer, but it offers a strong hint to look around and spot who might be wearing them.
This detection method isn’t flawless. Since the codes are linked to the manufacturer, not the specific product, false positives can occur. A company like Meta also produces VR headsets, which could trigger the same alert. Jeanrenaud notes on the app’s GitHub page that this error should be obvious in most public settings, as someone wearing a bulky VR headset would be hard to miss. The app could also detect a product’s actual name if a wearer initiates Bluetooth pairing nearby, though that is considered a rare occurrence.
Currently, Nearby Glasses remains an early-stage, open-source project available only for Android. Jeanrenaud developed the initial prototype in about four hours and spent another eight refining it into a viable release. While it has functioned in tests, its real-world usage is still unconfirmed. The creator himself admits the tool is “very imperfect,” but it represents a significant conceptual step.
The app exemplifies a growing grassroots response to the unchecked rollout of always-on wearable technology. In the absence of clear regulations or consumer protections, tools like this empower individuals to reclaim a measure of situational awareness. It’s a simple, scrappy solution born from a fundamental desire for privacy in public spaces.
(Source: Futurism)
