ZuckOff Is a Free App That Detects Meta Smart Glasses Nearby

ZuckOff Is a Free App That Sees Meta Glasses Before They See You

Polish developer Pawel Szydlowski built ZuckOff, a free Bluetooth scanner that uses digital fingerprints to spot Ray-Ban Meta, Oakley Meta, and Snap Spectacles nearby. It hit over 5,000 App Store downloads in its first month and 1,000 on Google Play. The app matches unique identifiers against manufacturer IDs but cannot tell if the glasses are recording or who is wearing them. Meta pushed an update in July that blocks recording when the LED is tampered with, though tape still defeats the light. Roughly seven million pairs of Meta smart glasses were sold in 2025. A BBC investigation found accounts posting non-consensual footage, including a woman's face and phone number, with one video exceeding 1.3 million views. The basic scan is free on iPhone; a Pro version adds background monitoring, widgets, alerts, history, and CSV export.

Why it matters: The name alone is viral, the mechanism is concrete (Bluetooth signature scanning), and it directly taps into smart-glasses privacy fears. 5,000+ App Store downloads in the first month shows real demand. Capped at 72 because it's a defensive utility, not an industry-level event.