Norway is planning a temporary ban on smart glasses in some public places, amid rising global concern at the spread of the AI-enabled recording devices.
The Oslo government is planning a bill to prevent the use of the camera-enabled spectacles in parks, beaches, museums, shopping centres, schools, daycare centres, healthcare facilities, gyms and public events, although private use would still be allowed.
There is already a growing patchwork of restrictions on the use of the glasses including in UK and US courtrooms and in pubs, cinemas and restaurants where owners have raised privacy fears.
Torgeir Micaelsen, Norway’s minister of digital affairs, said he was “worried that new, powerful technology is being introduced where people risk being photographed, filmed or audio-recorded without knowing it”.
“We do not want a society where people worry about being recorded without their knowledge, photographed or filmed in places and situations where they are accustomed to not being monitored,” he said.
Norway’s Labour party, which heads a minority government, needs the support of other parties to pass the proposed ban. It said it planned to submit a bill “as soon as possible”, while tasking an expert group with drawing up permanent regulations on the issue.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta sells “smart” versions of Ray-Ban and Oakley glasses that allow users to film, take photos, make phone calls, play music and execute AI prompts. It has sold at least 9m pairs of the Ray-Ban versions since the start of 2023.
In the UK restaurateurs such as Jeremy King, who created the Wolseley and Delaunay restaurants, and pub chain Wetherspoons have already said they do not want customers using the devices. Cinemas said in August they had begun introducing policies to ban or restrict the use of smart glasses citing both privacy and film piracy concerns.
Last week the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, vetoed legislation that would have penalised citizens for using smart glasses to record people without their permission in changing rooms, doctors’ offices and other spaces people generally consider private. The state already has laws governing unlawful recording.
In France, the child welfare group E-enfance said it had this year received about 20 reports of women being filmed without their knowledge using glasses fitted with a camera, the majority of which involved Meta smart glasses. It said the incidents often followed the same pattern: a young girl or woman approached in a public place, filmed without her knowledge, with the clip then posted on social media in the form of a prank or a street interview.
Meta has stressed that each pair of glasses is fitted with a tamper-proof LED light that blinks white when the user is recording or taking pictures. It advises users: “Not everyone loves being photographed. Stop recording if anyone expresses that they would rather you not.”
A Meta spokesperson said: “We’re excited that our glasses continue to be very popular for listening to music, making calls, or getting live translations, so we’re continuing to expand styles and features around the world. Every pair with a camera has a bright light on the front that blinks when you take a photo or video. It can’t be turned off and the camera is disabled if someone covers or tampers with it -- something smartphones and other camera’s don’t have.”
