Wetherspoons confirms new ban inside over 800 pubs across England

WETHERSPOONS has confirmed a new ban inside over 800 of its pubs across England. The pub has said it has issued the ban over privacy concerns. Wetherspoons said customers will not be able to use the record feature on its glasses in-store Credit: Getty The tech has built in cameras which people can use to record their surroundings Credit: Reuters Meta Glasses have been banned at all 800 of its pub sites over fears that customers and employees could be recorded without their consent. Customers will be asked to turn off the camera feature if they want to enjoy a pint at one of its sites. Sign up for the Money newsletter Thank you! A Wetherspoons spokesperson said: “Like many hospitality companies, Wetherspoon has CCTV cameras for security reasons, but their use is strictly controlled by data legislation. “Apart from that, the general code that applies in our pubs, and most pubs, is that you can’t film customers or employees without their permission. “Meta glasses seem to breach this code, and common sense, by enabling surreptitious surveillance, so our instinct is to say turn off the cameras. This is akin to our efforts to stop audible playing of videos in our pubs, which also invades people’s space.” It comes amid growing concern about the wearable tech after reports of women being filmed without their knowledge or consent. Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, said there’s a little light that lights up on the glasses, so people can spot when someone is actually filming. “So we can’t stop people from filming other people, but we can try to make sure that that light is on if they are filming. Most read in Money “We now actually have the glasses basically stop working if you drill that light out, because we saw that people were trying to drill that light out. “Plus, if you’re posting content that is taking advantage of people and harassing them, like a lot of these pickup line kind of videos that we’ve heard of and seen, then we’re going to take the content down.” “We don’t want people to be surreptitiously taking videos of other people and harassing them and then posting them on our platform. So we’re trying to fight that every way we can.” Alongside the camera feature, Meta glasses can allow customers to stream music or podcasts, take phone calls and send text messages. They cost upwards of £247 when bought from the Meta website. A Meta spokesperson said: “People use our glasses because they’re helpful and let them stay in the moment, from listening to music to live translation or hands-free calls. “They also provide critical new technology for people who are low-sighted or hard of hearing and limiting how people can use this technology would be a major step backwards.” “Naturally some places shouldn’t be filmed at all and that’s reasonable but rules should be applied consistently. “ Comment now