Meta glasses at the school gate

[Minephotographercat]

I know several Dads at our primary school own, and are big advocates of the meta glasses that can record people without them realising.

WIBU to email the school (without naming names) with my concerns that our children might be being recorded at the school gate?

YANBU
These should be illegal.
Edited to add: They should sent out an email asking not to film other people’s children at the gate, including with meta glasses but they can’t enforce it unfortunately.

I haven’t come up against this so no direct experience.

Why would it be a concern to you if children were recorded at the school gate? I understand some of the potential concerns around it but why specifically would you be concerned?

Anyone could record someone on their phone: I know it is a bit more obvious but you could easily do it without being too conspicuous.

It's drones I'd like to see better regulated/ideally got rid off completely. They are such a nuisance and are really invasive.

A few different reasons (non exhaustive)

• phones are banned in and around school, we are constantly reminded at assemblies and events that we can only record our own child but not to share footage.
• safeguarding of vulnerable (or not vulnerable children)
• normalising constant surveillance - I want our kids to be able to exist without the fear that their actions and conversations might be being captured and shared.
• AI's ability to manipulate photos and videos.

I realise that people can covertly record on their phones but the fact that it's covert means people realise they shouldn't be doing it. In this case, people are brazenly walking around with the ability to record people without their knowledge/consent.

I Would name, names.

You are not being unreasonable!

I would be grateful to you as a fellow parent for reporting if you knew this was happening Xo

YANBU. Safeguarding concern, tell the School.

10000% tell the school.

Everyone should be concerned that people can just record like this. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a specific concern about the OP’s own child or not. It’s and absolute disgrace that these are allowed anywhere. The OP sums it up perfectly in their last post but christ what society do we want to be living in where these glasses are ok.

I wish these pervert glasses were banned everywhere. Definitely inform the school and name names.

I wouldn’t be comfortable with that at all either and would inform the school of the concerns. Would like to think they could make it a very clear policy to not allow them on the grounds.

I don’t blame you for being concerned and I would mention it to the school, although in all likelihood there’s not much they can do.
However, if you have seen these glasses in person, it’s very obvious when they are filming - a light continuously flashes. Way more obvious than a phone recording which would be easy to conceal.

I think this would be the outcome I'd like - a ban on school grounds.

They can be banned inside the school gates, but outside, there is almost nothing that can be done.

Anyone, whether an adult or child, has no legal expectancy of privacy when in public. Any one of us can be recorded with no "warning" required beforehand. Some think that by stating "I don't give you consent to record me" makes a difference, but it doesn't.

Clearly there are exceptions such as harassment etc, but by and large that principle remains true.

Interesting - the videos I've seen of it haven't looked that obvious, especially in daylight in a busy environment though I will admit I've not (to my knowledge) seen them in action in real life.

what is their justification for wearing them on school grounds? Sounds so voyeuristic.

I read something recently that if someone is wearing them to start singing disney songs as disney take copyright infringement very seriously and so the uploaded footage will be requested to be removed. Might be time to get the kids to sing let it go en masse!

Agree these are are a really concerning invention - people should not be recorded like this constantly, it’s a huge invasion of privacy and frankly, the use of them is a huge red flag as to the wearer’s personality imho!

YABU. I don’t see the issue. If you're out and about in public you should expect to be filmed. People are taking pictures and videos all the time and they don’t need your consent for it.

Perhaps the school can ban them from their grounds, if they’re entering their property, but quite honestly people really overreact about their image, believing it to be this sacred thing that nobody should ever hold 🙄

There is no expectation of privacy when you’re out and about in public.

Easy enough to put a black sticker over the "recording" light.

They school ban parents phones outside the gates?? How do they have any say in that?

As an adult im aware that I could be filmed at any point, but if it it was obvious I would avoid it.
As a foster carer I find it shocking that people will do this, especially at a school. Foster kids are vulnerable and sometimes in danger if family know where they've been moved to. I know of 2 cases where settled children have had to be moved to a new family further away because family members have worked out from a photo/video the area they are now living, and have then scouted the area until they've found them. This is additional trauma for already traumatised/scared kids.

It is definitely a safe guarding issue.

Email the school and name names.

You never know when your bit of information about someone is the final piece in the safe guarding concerns about a person.
All safe guarding training tells us that.

Schools have families and staff who need protecting.

We go onto school grounds to pick them up. Phones not allowed to be out inside the building and posters all over the grounds asking to put them away when collecting the kids.

Obviously they can't do anything about outside the gate.

Agreed, but still easier to spot than a mobile phone recording I’d say.