German group files criminal complaint over Meta AI glasses

German digital rights organisation HateAid has filed a criminal complaint against Meta, Ray-Ban, Oakley and four German retailers, seeking a ban on the sale of the Ray-Ban Meta Wayfarer in Germany.

The complaint, lodged August 12 with the Central Office for Combating Internet Crime in Frankfurt, argues the glasses violate the country's Telecommunications and Digital Services Data Protection Act, known as the TDDDG.

Section 8 of the TDDDG prohibits marketing devices that appear to be everyday objects but are intended to surreptitiously record people.

HateAid claims that the Wayfarer Gen 2, which has one of the most popular sunglasses designs on the market, is "indistinguishable" from regular glasses even though it contains a working camera.

In Germany, where around 41 million people wear glasses, it claims that this leads to the potential for "image-based digital violence".

Violations under Section 27 result in either fines or up to two years of imprisonment for responsible executives, while HateAid is requesting the forfeiture of sales profits.

The complaint deliberately reaches beyond Meta itself, naming EssilorLuxottica subsidiaries Ray-Ban and Oakley, along with retail chains Fielmann, Apollo-Optik, Mister Spex and MediaMarkt.

"There's no place to escape from smart glasses," said HateAid managing director Josephine Ballon, adding that anyone nearby risks being filmed and having footage posted online without warning.

Frankfurt's ZIT prosecution unit has confirmed receiving the complaint and will conduct a preliminary assessment before deciding whether a full investigation is warranted.

Pictures of panoramas or events can be taken, but it is not allowed to film individuals without their permission, whereas in other European countries, this requirement would be considered more lenient because filming in public is normally allowed unless it is malicious, commercial, or vigilante filming.