Wetherspoon has banned Meta glasses from all its more than 800 pubs, ordering customers to “turn the cameras off”. The pub chain cited privacy concerns, stating that recording punters or employees without consent is not permitted.
Privacy concerns drive the ban
The smart glasses feature built-in cameras, speakers, and microphones, allowing users to take photos and record video. A Wetherspoon spokesperson said: “Like many hospitality companies, Wetherspoon has CCTV cameras for security reasons, but their use is strictly controlled by data legislation.”
“Apart from that, the general code that applies in our pubs, and most pubs, is that you can’t film customers or employees without their permission.” They added: “Our instinct is to say turn off the cameras. This is akin to our efforts to stop audible playing of videos in our pubs, which also invades people’s space.”
Meta responds to restrictions
A Meta spokesperson defended the glasses, saying: “People use our glasses because they’re helpful and let them stay in the moment, from listening to music to live translation or hands-free calls.” They added: “They also provide critical new technology for people who are low-sighted or hard of hearing and limiting how people can use this technology would be a major step backwards. Naturally some places shouldn’t be filmed at all and that’s reasonable but rules should be applied consistently.”
Other venues impose similar bans
Wetherspoon is not alone. Other venues banning Meta glasses, which cost upwards of £247, include ATG Theatres with venues in Bristol, Edinburgh, and London, Monopoly Events behind major comic and entertainment events, and private members' club Soho House.
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram (owned by Meta), recently addressed privacy concerns, noting the glasses have a light that activates when recording, so people can see when they are being filmed. He said: “We now actually have the glasses basically stop working if you drill that light out, because we saw that people were trying to drill that light out.”
He added: “Plus, if you’re posting content that is taking advantage of people and harassing them, like a lot of these pickup line kind of videos that we’ve heard of and seen, then we’re going to take the content down. We don’t want people to be surreptitiously taking videos of other people and harassing them and then posting them on our platform. So we’re trying to fight that every way we can.”
