Meta's AI-powered glasses look like ordinary eyewear but include built-in cameras that can take photos and record video, along with features that translate conversations, send texts and take calls. A small LED light is designed to signal when recording is underway.

That indicator is not enough to reassure some students. "Obviously with your giant camera, I know I'm being recorded because there's no light on it... but those (smart glasses) they could be off or on. And I don't know," said Georgia Tech student Gia Pisicchio.

Fellow student Hufsa Qidwai said unwanted recording has become a real concern on campus, including incidents tied to sexual harassment.

The unease is not confined to Georgia Tech. Earlier this year, University of Georgia police investigated complaints from students who said people wearing smart glasses secretly filmed them on campus. In one case, an interaction involving a student's appearance was later posted to social media.

Kade Crockford, who directs the ACLU's Technology and Justice Programs, said people still expect a measure of privacy and anonymity even in public settings.

Georgia and federal law generally permit recording people in public places because there is no expectation of privacy there. Recording in private spaces such as restrooms, locker rooms or private homes can carry criminal or civil consequences.

Concerns about misuse have surfaced elsewhere. This summer in Boston, a registered sex offender was charged with using camera-equipped sunglasses to record children changing at a playground. In June, Milton police arrested Christopher Hall on felony eavesdropping and surveillance charges after a mother found smart glasses on top of her car pointed toward her 13-year-old daughter's bedroom window. A friend of Hall's told reporters he believed there was an innocent explanation, suggesting Hall may have left the glasses behind after drinking at a party.

Georgia schools are now covered by a law that took effect this year banning smart glasses and other personal electronic devices. Georgia Schools Superintendent-elect Dr. Lydia Powell said the technology poses practical challenges for educators, including the risk that students could photograph tests or record others in restrooms. "If a student is taking a test, it would be so easy for them to capture a picture of it and put it on the internet," Powell said.

Privacy advocates are also watching the possible addition of facial recognition to the glasses. The ACLU warns the technology could let wearers covertly identify people around them and store that information. Meta says it is exploring the capability but has made no final decision.

Questions also remain about how images and other data collected by the glasses are handled. According to Meta, the recording indicator light cannot be turned off or disabled, and if the light is blocked, for example with tape, the camera will not operate.