ICE bans agents from using Meta smart glasses, but wants to build its own

Meta’s smart glasses have officially become so controversial that even Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ) doesn’t want them around.

Well, at least not the consumer version.

In a memo issued Aug.

18, acting ICE Director David Venturella told employees that Meta’s camera-equipped glasses count as personal body-worn cameras and therefore cannot be worn in federal workplaces.

"The use of Meta Glasses or similar devices could unintentionally capture, record or transmit sensitive information, potentially compromising privacy and legal protections," Venturella wrote, according to The New York Times .

The rule applies to all ICE employees , not only agents conducting raids or interacting with the public.

It also covers similar personal devices capable of recording audio or video.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson emphasized that the agency is not introducing a new policy.

"Personally owned body-worn cameras and unauthorized recording are prohibited, as they always have been," the spokesperson told The Times .

Meta declined to comment.

SEE ALSO: Meta’s smart glasses have a new look and the same privacy problem ICE and Border Patrol personnel have repeatedly been spotted wearing their own Meta smart glasses during immigration operations and protests.

A March investigation by The Independent found sightings of DHS agents wearing the glasses in at least six states.

In some cases, agents appeared to use them to photograph or record members of the public.

Footage examined by 404 Media showed a Border Patrol agent recording an immigration raid with the glasses’ indicator light illuminated, despite DHS rules that bar employees from recording with personal devices.