One New York European Wax Center (EWC) customer felt like her privacy was invaded after she discovered her esthetician was wearing Ray-Ban Meta glasses, which can capture photos and videos.
In a viral TikTok with 2.7 million views, Aniessa Navarro (@niessaxoxo_) says the experience happened around three weeks ago during her Brazilian wax appointment. It’s been “haunting” her since. She says she was hesitant to share her story. However, she went through with it after confiding in her husband and friends.
Navarro says she’s been an EWC client for about eight years. Around five minutes into her appointment at a Manhattan location, she asks her esthetician whether she’s wearing Ray-Ban Meta glasses. She hadn’t noticed them initially since the pair were just bantering back and forth.
“Oh, yeah I am, but, like, they’re not charged. They’re not on. I promise,” she recalls the esthetician saying.
Navarro says she shut down after this and couldn’t stop thinking about whether the woman was secretly recording her. She says she had a trip soon after the appointment, so she didn’t address it then. However, having thought about it incessantly since, she wonders whether she should call EWC. She believes workers wearing the glasses during an appointment should be illegal—or, at the very least, against company policy.
She says the worker told her they were prescription, but that didn’t make her feel better. Navarro feels the woman should have a pair of regular glasses that she wears for work.
‘I’m an esthetician, that’s unethical’
In the comments section, viewers agreed that, regardless of whether they were prescription or turned off, it was completely inappropriate and a major violation of privacy for the esthetician to be wearing Ray-Ban Metas. Several urged Navarro to contact a lawyer rather than EWC.
One wrote, “You should definitely hire a lawyer. Don’t call European wax center. Don’t give them time to prepare to fight back.”
A second said, “I’m an esthetician, that’s unethical. If you have prescription meta glasses you should have an extra pair of normal prescription glasses, that’s definitely not the time or place to wear those. If you’re not going to attempt to sue id call corporate.”
Another pointed out, “Why are we pretending that even if it isn’t recording, apps/companies don’t still access your camera without the indicator on..? I’m sorry this happened to you :(.”
What is Navarro going to do?
In a follow-up video, she says she reached out to EWC. They sent her a generic response that did not address her issue. When asked if her issue had been solved, she said no and was told the company would contact the location she had gone to. In the meantime, she says she’s contacted two attorneys. While she was told she has a case, she is hesitant to move forward. She doesn’t want to get the worker in trouble when they “did not do anything wrong.”
Regardless of the potential lawsuit, she says she hopes speaking out about her experience will lead to Ray-Ban Metas and similar glasses being banned from wax studios.
‘This is not you being vengeful’
Commenters on her second video said she should not fear appearing “vengeful” for potentially pursuing the matter legally, as the esthetician did something wrong by wearing the glasses. They also pointed out, like she did, that many glasses are much more affordable, so she should have no problem getting a second pair for work.
One argued, “She wouldn’t set up a camera on a tripod pointed at you and say it’s ok it’s not turned on so she shouldn’t wear a camera on her face either.”
A second said, “Zenni Optical has $7 glasses. If she can afford meta glasses then she can afford a $7 pair to wear while she waxes her clients. There’s no excuse. She definitely did something wrong! This isn’t being vengeful… it’s literally advocating for yourself and others.”
Is there a way to tell if someone is recording me with Ray-Ban Metas?
Yes, the glasses have an indicator light. This alerts people near the wearer that they are taking a photo or video for their gallery or livestreaming. The camera will not work if the indicator light is covered.
However, the light may not always be noticeable. A man who was a subject in two Harvard students’ experiment with Meta glasses had no idea he was being recorded during his interaction with one of the students, as he did not see the light.
Still, Navarro notes in her follow-up video that the fact that she didn’t see a light gave her peace of mind.
Can Ray-Ban Metas be hacked?
Fox Rothschild notes that the glasses can be hacked, but it is unclear whether it is possible for hackers to remotely disable the indicator light while still capturing photo or video.
@niessaxoxo_ What should I do? #europeanwaxcenter #brazilianwax #metaglasses ♬ original sound – aniessanavarro
This isn’t the first time a case like this has gone viral
As the Mary Sue previously reported, the bouncer at a gentleman’s club went viral for kicking out a man who insisted on wearing Ray-Ban Meta glasses inside. If he had covertly recorded inside, this would have been a privacy violation. It is considered poor etiquette to record in a gentleman’s club, and many have explicit rules against it.
The Mary Sue contacted Navarro, EWC, and Facebook (Meta) via email.
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