Hans Anders, one of Europe's largest eyewear chains, suspended sales of Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses in the Netherlands and Belgium on Friday, citing privacy risks tied to the devices' integrated cameras.
The move marks a significant retailer rejection of the product line and reflects mounting regulatory and legal pressure. Britain's Wetherspoon pub chain already restricted the glasses due to recording concerns. Meta is also defending a U.S. lawsuit alleging that videos captured by the glasses were reviewed by human annotators without subjects' knowledge.
Meta said the glasses include a bright front light that blinks during photo or video capture and cannot be disabled. The camera is also designed to disable if covered or tampered with.
The Dutch privacy regulator AP issued a warning last month that videos of identifiable people shot with the glasses cannot be shared or published without explicit consent—a standard difficult to meet in public spaces. Consumentenbond, a Dutch consumer rights group, announced this week it will pursue legal action against Meta unless the company modifies the glasses to comply with privacy laws.
Offlimits, a group focused on online abuse prevention, urged Meta and Ray-Ban owner EssilorLuxottica to voluntarily withdraw the glasses pending development of anti-recording safeguards.
A Meta spokesperson confirmed the company is continuing glasses development. EssilorLuxottica did not respond to requests for comment. Hans Anders operates 776 stores across five European countries but does not sell the smart glasses in Germany, Austria or Sweden, limiting the product's retail reach on the continent.
