New York City nightclub Basement has implemented a permanent ban on patrons wearing or carrying smart glasses, according to an announcement made via Instagram. The club, known for its strict vetting process, stated the policy aims to protect the privacy and freedom of individuals on its dance floor.
Policy Details
The policy explicitly states that anyone found with smart glasses, whether worn or in a bag, will be asked to leave and may face a permanent ban from the venue. Basement cited its existing no-photo and no-video policy, asserting that devices capable of discreet recording are incompatible with maintaining a private environment for attendees. Smart glasses, equipped with smartphone-like hardware, can record video and photos from a first-person perspective and are often difficult to detect, raising concerns about non-consensual filming.
Broader Concerns and Platform Responses
This move by Basement comes amid growing societal concerns about the potential misuse of smart glasses for surveillance and harassment. Online commentary following the announcement largely supported the ban, with users expressing desires to keep dance floors private and free from constant recording. Some social media users equated the trend to normalizing a surveillance state, with one commenter referring to the glasses as "pervert glasses."
Earlier in the year, videos surfaced online showing individuals using Meta's smart glasses to film and harass women, with some of these videos gaining millions of views on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. In response to this trend, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri stated that content exploiting or harassing individuals would be removed from the platform. Meta has taken steps to curb the misuse of its own smart glasses, including disabling cameras for users attempting to obscure the recording indicator light and filing a patent for a kill switch to disable sensors if misused.