cross-posted from: https://piefed.social/c/technology/p/1812149/this-app-warns-you-if-someone-is-wearing-smart-glasses-nearby-404media
The creator of Nearby Glasses made the app after reading 404 Media’s coverage of how people are using Meta’s Ray-Bans smartglasses to film people without their knowledge or consent. “I consider it to be a tiny part of resistance against surveillance tech.”
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The OUI scanning approach is correct but has a hard ceiling: it only works while the device is actively transmitting. Offline recording mode — which Meta Ray-Bans support — breaks detection entirely. Same limitation applies to the ESP32/FLOCK detector you linked: passive RF emission detection fails against any motivated actor who knows the countermeasure exists. Airplane mode, or a device with no wireless stack at all, makes both invisible. The app is useful for ambient deterrence — most casual wearers won’t bother — but it’s not adversarial detection. The threat model it actually solves is ‘oblivious person wearing Ray-Bans in a coffee shop,’ not ‘person deliberately surveilling you.’