ICE bars workers from using Meta smart glasses on the job

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has told its workforce to leave the Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses at home. The agency’s policy prohibits employees from using personal recording devices while on duty, and AI-equipped sunglasses that can quietly snap photos and stream video fall squarely into that category. The ban itself isn’t new. ICE’s body-worn camera guidelines have long required agents to use only agency-issued equipment, a standard designed to keep evidence chains clean and prevent unauthorized surveillance. The gap between policy and practice Despite the official prohibition, reports from March 2026 documented ICE and US Border Patrol personnel wearing the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses during immigration enforcement operations and at protests. The sightings created an awkward contradiction: the agency says agents can only wear non-recording sunglasses on duty, yet its own people were spotted with glasses that have a built-in camera, AI features, and a small indicator light that signals when the device is recording. Meta and its manufacturing partner EssilorLuxottica designed the glasses to look almost indistinguishable from regular Ray-Bans. The recording light is tiny. Unless ...