Norway readies temporary limits on camera smart glasses
Oslo wants to stop people filming with AI glasses in parks, gyms, clinics and schools, but a minority government still needs allies to pass the bill.
By
Callum Fairbairn
Norway wants to stop people using camera-equipped, AI-powered smart glasses in a defined set of public and privacy-sensitive places, because ministers fear residents are being filmed or photographed without realising it. The government set out the plan on 5 October as a temporary restriction, pending permanent rules.
In brief
- Norway’s government announced on 5 October a plan to restrict AI-powered smart glasses in certain public and sensitive places.
- The measure targets where and how the glasses are used, not their sale or the technology itself.
- Labour leads a minority government and has set no timetable, so nothing is in force yet.
- An expert group will prepare permanent national rules on wearable technology.
A ban on use in certain places, not on the device
The core worry is covert recording. Torgeir Micaelsen, Minister of Digital Affairs and Public Administration, framed it in terms of everyday expectations of privacy:
“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,”
Torgeir Micaelsen, Minister of Digital Affairs and Public Administration
What the government is not proposing matters just as much. Officials have said there will be no blanket prohibition. As europesays.com reports, the measure would regulate the locations and manner in which the glasses are worn, leaving the technology itself and its sale untouched. For a wearer, that means owning a pair would remain legal; switching it on in a gym or a clinic might not.
The idea has found backing among campaigners. Privacy International welcomed the initiative, describing it as protection for individuals against ever more intrusive data gathering by technology companies.
Where wearers could be affected
Lists of possible locations differ slightly between reports, but together they cover much of ordinary public life.
| Type of place | Examples cited |
|---|---|
| Open public spaces | Parks, beaches, public events |
| Culture and retail | Museums, shopping centres |
| Children’s settings | Schools, daycare centres, kindergartens, playgrounds |
| Health and fitness | Healthcare facilities, gyms, swimming pools, changing rooms |
| Possible later extension | Universities, colleges and other educational institutions |
The government has stressed that children deserve particular protection, which explains the weight given to schools and play areas. Locally, Oslo has gone further already: the capital decided to bar camera-equipped glasses from its schools.
According to The Guardian, private use would remain permitted under the planned bill.
The political path to a bill
None of this applies yet. Labour leads a minority government, so it must win support from other parties in parliament. It has promised to table legislation “as soon as possible”, but has given no timetable.
Alongside the temporary measure, an expert group is to be tasked with drafting lasting national regulation of wearable technologies.
The announcement builds on proposals published in August, which floated possible limits on facial recognition in public spaces and urged public and private organisations to write their own rules on wearables. Then, on 28 September, Micaelsen answered a written parliamentary question by noting that Norway’s technology-neutral privacy law already covers some uses of smart glasses. He also pointed to the EU AI Act, whose incorporation into Norwegian law is forthcoming.
The cases and products behind the debate
Concern has been fuelled by incidents abroad. In France, the child welfare group e-Enfance reported roughly 20 cases of women filmed without their knowledge using camera glasses, most of them made by Meta. Some clips ended up on social media, and the Paris public prosecutor opened an investigation.
Meta sells smart versions of Ray-Ban and Oakley frames. The company says a recording LED blinks whenever a photo or video is taken, cannot be switched off, and that the camera stops working if the light is covered or tampered with. Its relationship with regulators is under scrutiny on other fronts too, as Ofcom’s investigation into Meta’s safety checks shows.
Norway would not be the first to curb the glasses. Courtrooms in the UK and US restrict them, and some pubs, cinemas and restaurants have raised privacy objections. In the Netherlands and Belgium, Dutch retailers, rather than public authorities, have paused sales of Meta’s glasses. In the US, California’s governor Gavin Newsom last week vetoed a bill that would have penalised covert recording with smart glasses in private spaces.
Featured image. Source: Pexels. Credit: Vitaly Gariev. License: Pexels License.
