London Woman Filmed Covertly by Smart Glasses, Man Demands Payment to Remove Video
A woman, identified as Alice to protect her identity, was covertly filmed by a man wearing smart glasses while entering a London shopping centre. The man subsequently posted the video online, garnering around 40,000 views, before demanding payment to remove the content.
Alice discovered the video after a friend alerted her. She contacted the individual responsible, expressing her humiliation and requesting its removal. In response, the man stated he would only take down the footage as a "paid service." Alice reported the incident to the Metropolitan Police; however, officers were unable to progress the investigation due to "limited information."
The man behind the filming, who refused an interview, claimed via email that his "intention has always been to create light-hearted, respectful interactions" and denied seeking to cause distress. He initially asserted he did not require payment for content removal but later clarified that the "paid service" reference pertained to separate content-related requests, not removal in response to personal concerns. Alice confirmed she only requested the video's removal.
Despite Alice's request, the video was reposted on a different social media site after TikTok banned the man's account for breaching its bullying and harassment rules. Meta, which owns Instagram and Threads and manufactures smart glasses, removed the reposted video of Alice from its platforms, and a related YouTube account is no longer active.
Legal experts have characterised this behaviour as a novel form of threat. Professor Clare McGlynn of Durham University noted it constitutes a refusal "to take something down, unless the victim pays him money, and that is a threat to that victim." Dr Beatriz Kira, an assistant professor at the University of Sussex law school, emphasised the need for solutions that not only remove harmful content but also address the financial incentives driving its creation on social media platforms.
A government spokesperson affirmed that "filming and sharing content online without their consent is vile and will not be tolerated," citing measures within the new Violence Against Women and Girls strategy, published in 2025, to combat technology-enabled abuse.
