Meta’s ushering in of a new age of surveillance is cause for concern. Meta’s new face camera, which comes in the shape of an inconspicuous Ray-Ban, lets wearers shoot photos and videos without detection, and is equipped with microphones. Meta markets these features as a way to “live in the moment” and simultaneously share what you see with the world.

The Zuck shows us that AI can make us look good and smart…On Tuesday, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta CEO, posted a video on Instagram demonstrating multimodal AI that can use the smart glasses’ camera and microphone. Zuckerberg showed the AI helping him scan a shirt to pick a pair of matching trousers, tell him the name of an exotic fruit, and then translate a meme.

… but at the cost of your privacy? A New York Times journalist wore the glasses for two weeks, using them to secretly take photos and record videos of strangers. Due to the glasses’ ordinary look and camouflaged lens, no one could tell they were being caught on camera.

Plausible deniability. The journalist, Brian Chen, notes that Meta’s effort to curb undercover surveillance was to add a small LED light that flashes when a photo is taken and stays on while recording a video. Despite this, Chen says no one approached or confronted him despite his constant use of the glasses and its subtle LED outfit.

This constant surveillance is a sign of the times. While the ever-presence of smartphones, security cameras (both public and private), and dashcams already make it likely that we are constantly being recorded wherever we go, smart glasses present a new problem. Privacy scholar Chris Gilliard, who has studied the effects of surveillance tech, told NYT that this new wearable camera is going to enable a lot of bad actors intent on taking videos and photos of people without their knowledge or consent.

Silicon Valley has been shifting computing away from our fingertips and towards our faces, as with the Apple Vision Pro VR headset, and several other (less successful) smart glasses such as Snap’s Spectacles and Google Glass. Another company hoping to help us transition away from screens, but does not want to rest on your face, is Humane. The privacy-forward startup launched their AI Pin last month, hoping to create more human-centered tech.

The big picture: While Meta has taken (flimsy) strides to make its smart glasses’ camera noticeable, it’s important to note that a broader concern is whether or not the data collected by their tech will be in safe hands. Meta has a history of selling user data to third party companies, and just this year, Zuckerberg was fined USD 1.3 bn for mishandling our behavioral data.

All eyes on Palestine at the El Gouna Film Festival: The film festival,which kicks off today and ends next Thursday, 21 December, includes a special program spotlighting Palestinian narratives — Windows on Palestine — in collaboration with the Palestine Film Institute. This program is designed to “amplify the voices of Palestinians through the lens of cinema,” according to Artistic Director Marianne Khoury.

A broader conversation: The films will span across genres and stories, and will be played throughout the festival. The films that will be featured:

  • Ambulance by Mohamed Jabaly details the violence in Gaza in 2014 using a first person account by a young man who joins an ambulance crew as war looms.
  • Bye Bye Tiberias by Lina Soualem follows the lives of four daring Palestinian women from different generations.
  • Arab and Tarzan Nasser’s Condom Leadputs a comedic spin on intimacy in times of war.
  • Drawing for Better Dreams is a heartfelt short where May Odeh animates drawings made Palestinian children to translate their lives under siege.
  • The Gate of the Sun by Yousry Nasrallah spans 50 years of Palestinian struggle, hope, and love.
  • Anne Paq & Dror Dayan’s Not Just Your Picture gives us a look into German-Palestinian siblings seeking justice for their family.
  • Roof Knocking by Sina Salimi is a story of preservation in the face of violence.
  • Farah Nabulsi’s The Teacherencapsulates the daily rage and frustrations Palestinians experience.
  • To My Father by Abdelsalam Shehadeh uses photography to explore his people’s history.

To accompany the program is Camera in Crisis: A Lens on Palestine,a discussion moderated by Palestinian film director Mohammed Almughanni. It aims to uncover firsthand accounts of the challenges posed during the filming process when in crisis. The session will feature filmmakers Rashid Mashharawi, Najwa Najjar, Khalil Al Mozian and Gaza-born actor Ahmed Al Munirawi.

Stuck in Cairo? You can still watch the films in Zawya cinema in Downtown Cairo.

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