(Adnkronos) – The Norwegian government has announced its intention to temporarily ban the use of smart glasses in some public places due to privacy violation risks. The ban on these glasses, which allow taking pictures without the knowledge of the people being filmed, could particularly affect parks, beaches, museums, shopping centers, schools, kindergartens, healthcare facilities, gyms, and public events. The Labour government, which does not have a parliamentary majority, needs the support of other parties to approve the ban. The executive plans to present a bill “as quickly as possible,” while also tasking a group of experts with studying permanent regulations. “We do not want a society where people are worried about being recorded without their knowledge, photographed or videoed in places and situations where they are used to not being monitored,” stressed the Minister for Digitalization and Public Administration, Torgeir Micaelsen. The government specifies that it does not intend to impose a generalized ban on these glasses.
The measure comes as smart glasses, particularly those marketed by Meta alongside popular brands like Ray-Ban and Oakley, are raising increasing concern in Europe. In France, the e-Enfance association stated last month that it had received about twenty reports concerning women filmed without their consent, mostly with Meta glasses. Some videos were subsequently disseminated on social networks, leading to ridicule or hate messages. The Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office has opened several investigations after receiving complaints.
The City of Oslo has already decided to ban camera-equipped glasses in educational institutions, while calls for stricter regulation are also increasing in the European Union and the United Kingdom. Meta, for its part, emphasizes that its glasses are equipped with an LED light that flashes when a photo is taken or a video is recorded and that cannot be deactivated without rendering the camera unusable.
