The Norwegian government announced it’s aiming to introduce a temporary ban on smart glasses in a number of public locations, citing privacy as the main concern.
While the government says the temporary ban is a high priority, it must still be introduced as legislation and approved by Norway’s parliament, so its passage—and the scope of any eventual ban—aren’t yet certain.
Still, the temporary ban could prohibit the use of smart glasses (called ‘AI glasses’ in the official bulletin) in a number of public locations in the country, such as parks, beaches, museums, shopping malls and public events.
Norway’s Ministry of Digitization and Public Administration maintains the temporary ban could extend to a number of other spaces as well.
Places and events for children, such as schools, kindergartens, playgrounds and leisure clubs are possibilities. The ministry also says health institutions and training facilities with changing rooms and showers, in addition to universities, colleges and other educational institutions are currently under consideration as well.
Notably, Norway’s government says it’s not proposing an outright ban on smart glasses and other wearables; those devices will still be allowed in certain places in addition to purely private use, for example if you’re traveling somewhere that doesn’t inherently include the risk of filming or photographing other people without their consent.
“I am concerned that new, powerful technology is being introduced where people risk being photographed, filmed or audio recorded without their knowledge,” says Minister of Digitalization and Public Administration Torgeir Micaelsen. “We will therefore propose a temporary ban on AI glasses in selected places. This will give us time to conduct a thorough investigation and have an informed debate that can lay a good foundation for lasting regulation.”
Additionally, Micaelsen maintains the ban is effort to curb the creation of a society “where people are concerned about hidden audio recordings, photography and filming in places and situations where they are used to being without being monitored. Such a society can be experienced as unsafe and make us withdraw.”
Meanwhile, a special council will be established to look at permanent national regulation of wearable technology. It’s not clear at this time whether that includes audio-only smart glasses as well, like those introduced by Meta late last month.
This comes amid growing scrutiny over smart glasses privacy. New legislation earlier this year in number of US states and cities, including New York state and Philadelphia, has effectively banned camera-equipped smart glasses from a range of public government buildings in those regions.
More recently, Dutch optical eyewear chain Hans Anders halted sales of Meta smart glasses in the Netherlands, citing privacy concerns.
Meanwhile, other companies are now producing competitors to Meta’s slate of smart glasses, which will soon include Google’s Android XR hardware partners Gentle Monster and Warby Parker.
