A London woman was covertly filmed through smart glasses in a shopping centre, had the footage viewed approximately 40,000 times online, and was then told by the man responsible that removal was a “paid service,” the BBC reported May 7. Metropolitan Police said they could not progress an investigation due to limited information.
Woman covertly filmed for ‘humiliating’ social media content – then told to pay https://t.co/bgCCkj2Vu3
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) May 7, 2026
Identified by the BBC under the pseudonym Alice, the woman said she had no idea she was being filmed. “He had no phone, he did not have a camera directly in my face,” she said.
The BBC identified accounts run by the same man across YouTube, Instagram, and Threads. He told the BBC the “paid service” reference applied to content-editing requests, not personal removal requests. TikTok banned his account for bullying and harassment violations.
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Professor Clare McGlynn of Durham University said the conduct “is not your standard blackmail.” She noted that here the man was “refusing to take something down, unless the victim pays him money, and that is a threat to that victim.”
A government spokesperson said filming and sharing content without consent is “vile and will not be tolerated.” Dr. Beatriz Kira of the University of Sussex called on platforms to cut “incentives at the root.”
With the BBC reporting the cases of women being exploited by men who secretly filmed them using smart glasses, our poll in March found that 49% of Britons support a ban on smart glasses in public spaces (30% are opposed)
Results link in replies pic.twitter.com/Nr3vDrL3QJ
— YouGov (@YouGov) May 7, 2026
An amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, announced February 19, would require platforms to remove non-consensual intimate images within 48 hours or face fines up to 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue. It was not yet in force when Alice’s footage circulated.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) wrote to Meta in March 2026 after reports that outsourced contractors had reviewed intimate footage captured through Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. The glasses’ recording indicator light can be disabled by the wearer.
“He’s got the file, which still makes me feel uneasy,” Alice said. “I just feel powerless.”
