These 'Anti-Facial Recognition' Glasses Block Surveillance Cameras

A growing number of eyewear brands are developing glasses designed to interfere with facial recognition systems and surveillance cameras.

According to a report by The New York Post, New York-based designers and eyewear companies are creating “anti-facial recognition” glasses in response to growing interest from customers who want to limit biometric tracking and prevent facial recognition software from collecting their data.

One company developing this type of eyewear is Solir Optics, a Glen Falls, New York-based brand that sells “anti-facial recognition” sunglasses priced between $70 and $100.

While many sunglasses are primarily designed to protect against ultraviolet rays, Solir Optics general manager Nate Troxell says the company’s glasses are designed to block a broader range of light, including infrared and blue light. The brand says this can interfere with retinal scans and other technology used by some security cameras to identify people in locations such as casinos, concert venues, and supermarkets.

“We’re making a firewall for your face,” Troxell tells The New York Post.

The brand, which is also currently developing anti-surveillance lenses for prescription glasses, says he wants the hi-tech design to be subtle.

“We wanted our designs to blend in,” he adds, noting that the original eyewear technology was developed for cannabis growers looking to block artificial light exposure in their greenhouses. “It’s not like you’re wearing spy glasses. You’re just wearing sunglasses that have a much deeper function.”

Online eyewear retailer Zenni Optical is also offering a lens coating called “ID Guard,” which the company says is designed to protect against facial recognition technology. The coating adds a pink tint to the surface of the lenses that reflects infrared light used by some facial recognition cameras.

According to The New York Post, Kerin Rose Gold, a Gramercy-based designer, artist, and owner of luxury eyewear brand A-Morir, has also begun creating glasses designed to counter facial recognition technology. Gold created Handle With Care, a line of bespoke 3D-printed sunglasses that launched this month, with prices ranging from $425 to $725. Drawing inspiration from the U.S. Navy’s early 20th-century “dazzle camouflage” designs, the glasses use black-and-white patterns intended to disrupt the sensors used by some facial recognition systems.

“I’m not a nefarious person,” Gold tells the news outlet. “I’m not going to do anything wrong. So why is Big Brother in the takeout sushi aisle tracking me without permission? It makes me deeply uncomfortable.”

The rise in such glasses comes after Meta reportedly removed a controversial facial recognition system, internally known as “Name Tag,” that was discovered in the code of a companion app for its line of Ray-Ban smart glasses. The reports about the Name Tag feature prompted more than 70 advocacy organisations to urge Meta to abandon reported plans to introduce facial-recognition technology into its Ray-Ban smart glasses, warning of serious risks to privacy and public safety.