This GitHub repository for yj_nearbyglasses is a technical project advocating for surveillance detection and privacy protection through open-source code. The project directly engages with Article 12 (privacy rights) by publishing tools to detect smart glasses and wearable surveillance devices, and indirectly supports Articles 19, 26, and 27 through open dissemination of technical knowledge. The repository demonstrates structural support for human rights through GitHub's access model and community governance, though platform-level analytics create tension with the project's privacy-protective mission.
Tried this on a Pixel 9, after allowing permissions the Start Scanning button does nothing, and there's nothing in the debug log. I do like the idea and might try again in the future if it gets updated. Seems like a good candidate for F-Droid instead of Google Play.
But I think very soon the whole detection won’t be enough, because most people will have glasses, phones, CCTV, etc., I think the best is protecting yourself, so a cloak mask or similar, where for humans it’s barely visible but for machines it blocks you from being scanned or recorded.
Add satellite imagery, nearby self-driving vehicles / Google maps cars, line-of-sight ring doorbells, peripheral street surveillance cameras, police equipment, people in your proximity with a smartphone camera, and various-purpose drones and then you'll have the perfect paranoia alerter.
> Judge Carolyn Kuhl, who is presiding over the trial, ordered anyone in the courtroom wearing AI glasses to immediately remove them, noting that any use of facial recognition technology to identify the jurors was banned.
I am not a believer in Zuckerberg's idea of humanity's future.
This is really neat, I gotta find an android device to try it. Reminds me of the good old days of wardriving with kismet and netstumbler.
I am surprised there isn't an existing BT/BTLE fingerprint table that takes more into account than just what is provided. I would assume each device, or atleast each chipset has subtle quirks that could be used to weed out some of the false positives.
the link in the readme for the identifiers doesn't work because it's relative to the repo, so it is below. I like that they did this, it's so much better than the OUI table for mac addresses, because some companies (cough cisco) keep getting new ones.
Bought my first pair of Meta glasses in Oct 2023 and overall I really enjoying using smart glasses! They are great for quickly/easily capturing life experiences. Also, while traveling or wherever asking and getting information on things your looking at - it's cool & useful. Tho Meta makes trash as my 1st pair died after 14 months of use after a software update and then my 2nd pair only lasted 4 months after some water splashes. I called Ray Ban for tech support and the lady on the phone agreed they are trash per how many calls she gets.
I don't care to take pics of strangers tho lots of people who havent adopted them are concerned about such.
Overall no more Meta glasses for me Im waiting for Apple's. They have tons of stores to get your glasses fixed and they don't manufacture trash that breaks! Also, maybe Apple will add a privacy feature so your pics and vids anonymize faces not in your personal network.
Currently detects via Meta, Essilor or Snap company ID.
So it won't detect my XReal's. I purposefully bought my XReal now because it feels like they might be one of the last models released without cameras.
But theoretically I could have the XReal Eye attachment on my glasses, and could be taking video through that. I don't, but the XReal user next to me might.
Of course the USB wire hanging from my ear probably makes me look suspicious enough already that the warning probably isn't necessary either way...
Projects like this are useful not only for identifying creeps nearby, but also for highlighting a broader issue: once AI glasses become common, everyone nearby becomes part of the experiment.
I recently switched away from my usual brand when they started shipping AI-enabled glasses. That was my small way of opting out.
But as someone who can really use the features for daily use - visual assistance (low vision), alwyas worn set of speakers (no need to futz around with airpods everytime i want to listen to audio without looking like a dork)... I really can't wait for android XR smart glasses (sans display)
We are really getting into the cyberpunk dystopia now. Adversarial tech in everyday wearables, hardware cat and mouse. Next step is offence as defence, ICE daemons counter hacking autonomously in the background.
Tried this on my moto g 128GB - 2025 (XT2513V) running Android 16. Here is some rapid fire feedback.
I opened this in a pretty heavily populated area in Baltimore. There wasn't anyone likely near using glasses and no detections were made, but the debug log flew by absurdly quickly likely because there are a ton of Bluetooth devices nearby.
The start scanning button doesn't change to stop scanning, but it does seem to toggle scanning.
The top bar is overlapping with the notification bar area.
The bottom is truncated slight by my 3 button gesture bar thing. I am old and use the very ancient back, home and multi task buttons that are always visible because I am old.
When I first granted permission the app seemed to just lock up and wouldn't do anything until I restarted it. I gave it both the permissions it wanted and tried fiddling with stuff, but it didn't seem to redraw and I couldn't get the settings to open until after I restarted.
When I first started I think I was connected to my headset, which then disconnected after the permission request?
Aside from the project itself: They are eusing a "Polyform License" I haven't encountered that before. So it's not "open source" as many people might expect from GitHub and Polyform licenses seem to inherit the "what exactly is the boundary between non-commercial and commercial" issue as do CC licenses.
an invisibility cloak! crazy times, maybe we can make anti-smart-glasses glasses that detect smart glasses and have an invisible beam that can target and blind the cameras
Are you making a counterpoint to the author's premise that smart glasses are an "intolerable intrusion?"
I'm having trouble understanding the purpose of your comment since it seems like you're just saying the ray ban glasses are bad for a different reason.
Do you have children? I frequently want to record things my daughter does but I find that my phone is not close at hand. I am curious if the latency to record is low-enough and I don't want to distract my daughter while she's doing whatever she's doing. I just want to capture the moment for later without interrupting the moment. They advertise it as this but I am curious what it's like in actuality.
Looking at this almost unanimously negative comment section, on a tech website, it appears you should be concerned about your safety while wearing anything that could be seen as being "smart". I imagine a non-tech crowd would be even more negative.
> for identifying creeps nearby
> I recently had to interact with an idiot wearing meta glasses.
> Would renaming to ”Nearby Glassholes” be acceptable as a PR?
> If you're wearing these glasses and recording people in public, you're asking for a sweet punch in the face.
I believe the problem is not smart glasses per se, but spyware that runs on a lot (if not most) of such devices.
Shame the language makes people intrinsically hate the former by associating it with the latter without even questioning it. The idea of smart glasses is cool, the implementations are not.
I was actually hoping it could be paired with speech to text very well and help along with hearing aids when the latter do not perfectly work. There are legitimate use cases.
> I am not a believer in Zuckerberg's idea of humanity's future.
I don't know what Zuckerberg's idea of humanity's future is but I believe it's basically inevitable that most people will be wearing always on cameras on their face in the future. The same way they carry always on phones today.
The use cases will be too compelling. There have already been demos. Ask the AI watching over your shoulder anything about your past and present and have it act on it.
I'm sure as a hater of that future you don't beleive. For me, I'd pick 2040 as the latest that people wearing always on cameras will be as common as smart phones in 2010 and grow at or faster than smartphones when they get it to actually work and be stylish. I'm not saying I'll enjoy being watched by all of those cameras. I'm saying I don't believe I'll have a choice any more than I have a choice of people having smartphones today.
The Quantum Thief series by Hannu Rajaniemi depicts a society where the protection point in "smart glasses" is addressed by making shared info opt-in and handling that centrally (vulnerability of which is a major plot point), so people see a non-distinct blob instead of a person if they don't have access. There's more to it in the books, but I won't spoil, I highly recommend reading these instead.
The fact that people dislike so strongly only a subset of these recording devices also means something. Part of it is people being unaware. But also: wearers of smart glasses have a reputation. I guess the question is, is the glasshole reputation deserved.
there's always room for another software arms race. the personal area network is not ready and the evolution will be painful and good for someone - us, or them, without regard for what those divisions are, it's going to hurt.
I just re-watched Ghost in the Shell SAC Laughing Man last night, and wouldn't mind seeing these things get hacked with the Laughing Man logo replacing any face it was looking at, re-writing signs, etc.
Repository project directly engages with freedom of information by publishing code that helps users detect and protect against unwanted surveillance — a form of information control. The project advocates for user awareness and technical literacy as defenses against privacy invasion.
FW Ratio: 57%
Observable Facts
Repository publishes open-source code for detecting surveillance devices.
Project description is publicly visible and searchable globally.
Comment and discussion threads are open for public participation.
GitHub's public model enables unrestricted access to the information without authentication.
Inferences
Publishing surveillance detection code supports freedom to receive and impart information about privacy threats.
The project advocates for informed decision-making regarding surveillance risks.
Open-source dissemination removes gatekeeping from access to privacy-protective technology.
Repository title and description advocate for technical participation in cultural and scientific knowledge: detecting smart glasses represents engagement with emerging surveillance technologies and participation in technical culture. Publishing open-source code is a form of cultural contribution.
FW Ratio: 50%
Observable Facts
Repository publishes technical knowledge about surveillance detection.
Code is licensed for reuse and adaptation, enabling cultural participation.
Project engages with emerging technology landscape through surveillance detection.
Inferences
Open-source publication enables participation in scientific and technical knowledge advancement.
The project contributes to cultural understanding of surveillance technologies.
Sharing code embodies principles of participating in scientific progress.
Repository title states goal is to 'detect smart glasses nearby and warn you' — this project advocates for surveillance detection against wearable cameras, engaging directly with privacy rights by promoting awareness of potential privacy invasion.
FW Ratio: 50%
Observable Facts
Repository title explicitly states: 'attempting to detect smart glasses nearby and warn you'.
The project provides code to detect and warn against surveillance devices.
Page metadata and feature flags indicate GitHub's tracking infrastructure is active.
Inferences
The project's stated purpose is to help users detect potential surveillance threats to their privacy.
Publishing detection code as open source empowers users to protect their own privacy rights.
GitHub's analytics and feature tracking create tension with the privacy-protective mission of this repository.
GitHub's public repository structure, comment threads, and discussion features enable open exchange of information and ideas about surveillance detection. The platform's access model removes barriers to information dissemination.
GitHub's model enables sharing in cultural and scientific progress; this project contributes to the collective technical knowledge base regarding privacy and surveillance.
GitHub's analytics and feature flag systems collect behavioral data; however, the repository itself publishes open-source code that users can deploy for their own privacy protection.
GitHub's platform structure enables open collaboration and global participation in knowledge creation, consistent with preamble values of human dignity and equal rights.
GitHub's access controls and community guidelines enforce equal treatment of all users regardless of background; however, individual repository maintainers have discretion in governance.
Repository code is licensed (implied GitHub terms); user-generated content and intellectual property created in the repository are subject to GitHub platform control and licensing restrictions rather than absolute user ownership.
GitHub's open discussion and transparent project governance enable users to freely express ideas and contribute according to their values; the repository itself embodies a particular perspective (surveillance detection) that reflects user conscience.
GitHub's discussion and issue features enable users to collectively organize around the project's goals; the open-source model facilitates community assembly and collaboration.
GitHub provides basic platform functionality that supports professional development and economic opportunity; this project contributes to technical skill development.
GitHub's accessible interface design and this project's potential to protect user privacy may indirectly support health by reducing surveillance-related stress and enabling informed health decisions.
GitHub's platform enables free access to code and knowledge; this repository provides technical education about surveillance detection without gatekeeping.
GitHub's community guidelines and project governance structures establish baseline expectations for responsible behavior; this project's surveillance detection goal reflects community interest in collective privacy protection.
GitHub's terms of service prohibit use of the platform to violate rights; individual projects may be misused, but the repository structure itself does not prohibit rights protection.
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build 1ad9551+j7zs · deployed 2026-03-02 09:09 UTC · evaluated 2026-03-02 10:41:39 UTC
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