Everything is watching: Apple Watch listening features, Meta glasses, and no opting out

Earlier this month, Apple announced that its new Apple Watch models will be able to continuously listen to the speech around them and summarize what is happening near the wearer. Experts warned about the legal risks, especially in nonpublic spaces and in US states where eavesdropping laws require both parties to consent. Many people simply called the technology creepy.

Apple prepared for the reaction and published a page of technical details to reassure users: the watch is not spying on them. Live Rewind, the company says, keeps only a rolling buffer that transcribes the last 15 seconds of speech, while Siri Recap offers "high-level summaries" of what was captured during the day. Neither identifies individual speakers, and an audible chime warns people nearby that transcription is running.

"Warn and record" is not consent

Privacy researchers argue that such safeguards shift the burden of privacy from the company to the consumer, and then to bystanders. Chris Gilliard, an independent privacy researcher and author of the forthcoming book Luxury Surveillance, told The Verge that Apple's entry matters: the company built its reputation on privacy, and its popularity could normalize being surreptitiously listened to.

Gilliard says the blinking light on Meta's smart glasses and the chime on the Apple Watch only create the appearance that companies take privacy seriously. That "warn and record" approach, he argues, is incompatible with the norms of shared spaces: it asks people who are already being recorded to react, instead of letting them say no beforehand.

Meta, Flock and creep-tech

The features arrive as always-listening and camera-equipped devices spread. Flock cameras cover rural and suburban communities, subway walls advertise AI "Friend" pendants, and predatory influencers use Meta Ray-Ban glasses to harass women in public. Meta, mocked and sued this summer over a campaign for its "pervert glasses", showed a camera-less version at Meta Connect 2026 and plans 100 versions by the end of the year.

Consumers push back

Jenna Sherman, a campaign director at UltraViolet, an advocacy group focused on consumer tech and gendered violence, told The Verge that opt-out models are not consent: not everyone sees a recording light or hears a warning chime, and the onus should be on companies, not bystanders. An app that detects nearby smart glasses over Bluetooth became a top paid app on Apple's App Store, venues have banned the devices, and Flock cameras have been vandalized nationwide.