Smartglasses are in real danger of becoming public enemy number one if the cutting-edge tech’s reputation doesn’t get a positive boost in the near future.
Following scandals involving smartglasses being used to record women on the street without consent, and Meta’s third-party contractors being able to see highly sensitive images from the cameras, a witness in court has been caught using a pair of smartglasses and coached on answers through the speakers.
Secret coaching
During a hearing which took place in January 2026, a claimant was caught using smartglasses while giving evidence, and it was subsequently discovered they were being coached on answers to give the judge through them.
According to the in-depth case report, when Mr Laimonas Jakstys was called to give evidence, he required an interpreter, who sat alongside him in the witness box. After the session began, both the interpreter and a solicitor noted the sound of “interference,” and became aware of Jakstys wearing a pair of smartglasses.
The judge asked for the smartglasses to be removed, so the cross-examination could continue, and part way through the interpreter translating a question, a person spoke through Jakstys’s smartphone, and was deemed to have been previously speaking to him through the smartglasses.
Multiple calls
Jakstys denied using the smartglasses to be coached on his answers, and said the voice heard from his phone was ChatGPT.
After the phone and smartglasses were confiscated, it was discovered a series of calls were made and received from a particular number, which the claimant said was a taxi driver.
Without the smartglasses, the judge notes, “Once Mr Jakstys no longer had his smartglasses, he hesitated quite a bit before providing answers to questions,” and concluded the section on his evidence by stating: “I reject Mr Jakstys evidence in its entirety. He was untruthful in relation to his use about the smartglasses and in being coached through the smartglasses.”
Not the best look
The model of smartglasses was not revealed in the court details, but it’s entirely possible it was a pair of Ray-Ban Meta, which have internal speakers and can make and receive calls when connected to a phone.
An entire section of a court report discussing the use of smartglasses, and for the claimant to consider using them for coaching during a hearing in the first place, is yet more bad publicity for the currently beleaguered tech.
At the end of 2025, analysts called 2026 a potential breakout year for smartglasses, and sales were reportedly reaching record numbers, pushing Meta and EssilorLuxottica to double production at the end of 2025 to meet high demand. Both Samsung and Google are ready to launch smartglasses this year.
While a lot of mobile devices can be abused, smartglasses are under considerable scrutiny at the moment, in part due to controversial devices like Google Glass, and ongoing privacy concerns which not even Meta is making easy to ignore.
