Norway says it is considering banning camera-equipped smart glasses that can record other people in public spaces without their knowledge.
The Nordic country’s digital minister, Karianne Tung, tells AFP, a news agency, that she is particularly concerned about Meta’s plans to integrate an AI-powered facial recognition feature.
“We can see that people’s private lives and privacy are coming under pressure from new technology, and I therefore want to regulate smart glasses and similar devices more strictly than today,” Tung says. “This could, for example, mean banning features such as facial recognition of other people in public spaces.”
Tung is planning to consult with a group of experts who can advise the government on the best way to protect people’s privacy. She also wants private companies to come up with their own policy.
“There is a clear trend that artificial intelligence is being combined with cameras and microphones that are built into things like glasses, earbuds, caps, and other items we use in everyday life. We must avoid this equipment being used to monitor other people in public spaces,” says Tung, who represents Norway’s Labour Party.
Earlier this year, it was reported that Meta had plans to introduce facial recognition into its smart glasses. The feature was known inside the company as “Name Tag,” and it would have allowed wearers to identify people in their field of view and access information about them through Meta’s AI assistant.
After the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) called the feature a “red line society must not cross,” Meta reportedly abandoned the feature in June.
Nevertheless, as a response to the mooted feature, several European countries — including France, Germany, and the Netherlands — considered banning Meta’s smart glasses.
“Meta already has this technology ready to go, and it is only a matter of time before it is rolled out in the glasses,” says Norwegian Consumer Council’s head of digital policy, Finn Lützow-Holm Myrstad. He encourages Norway’s government to act on the glasses, adding that “the potential for abuse is enormous.”
The smart spectacles have been dubbed “pervert glasses” because of certain owners, mainly male, using them to creep on unsuspecting members of the public, often young women, and film them without consent before sharing the resulting footage online.
Meta is increasingly trying to quell the massive backlash against the devices: the company claimed yesterday that it had bricked thousands of pairs that had been tampered with; nefarious users block the flashing LED light that is supposed to let others know they are recording.
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