Norway is moving to tighten regulation of smart glasses, with the government considering restrictions on functions such as facial recognition of other people in public spaces.

Digitalisation and Public Governance Minister Karianne Tung said on August 25 that the government will set up an expert group to examine how it should regulate smart glasses and similar devices. The government is also asking public and private organisations to set their own rules for using the devices at workplaces and other premises, according to a press release.

Tung said stricter rules could include a ban on facial recognition of other people in public spaces. The government is examining restrictions on specific uses and functions of the glasses, rather than proposing an outright ban on the devices.

What has Norway’s privacy regulator asked for? Norway’s Data Protection Authority, Datatilsynet, has asked the government to urgently assess whether smart glasses require specific regulation.

In a formal letter dated August 12, Datatilsynet asked the government to assess the need for and scope of special regulation for smart glasses, Juristen reported.

The regulator has proposed several measures for consideration:

• Restricting where people can use the glasses, including possible restrictions or bans in schools and kindergartens.
• Restricting the sale or purchase of smart glasses.
• Imposing specific requirements on the products or intrusive functions, including profiling and biometric identification.
• Raising the issue at the European level.

Datatilsynet also called for stronger action in July. Its director, Line Coll, said lawmakers should consider stopping sales of smart glasses while authorities examine the issue, if they have a legal basis to do so. Datatilsynet has not established whether Norway has the legal authority to impose such a ban.

Why does the government disagree? The Norwegian government says existing technology-neutral privacy rules already cover smart glasses.

Tung rejected the need for separate rules, pointing to Norway’s existing framework and forthcoming legislation implementing the EU AI Act and Digital Services Act.

Datatilsynet disputes that assessment and says the existing framework does not adequately address the challenges that the glasses create.

The Justice Ministry is also assessing whether existing laws and other measures provide sufficient safeguards. The ministry says a general ban would be difficult to define because people use smart glasses for legitimate purposes. The ministry further pointed out that the devices do not clearly differ from other camera equipment, such as drones, dashcams and hidden cameras.

Why are these glasses a privacy concern? Smart glasses can collect information about people who have not chosen to interact with the device.

In an interview with MediaNama, Jules Polonetsky, CEO of the Future of Privacy Forum described bystander privacy as an immediate challenge for wearables such as Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses. He also questioned whether relying on a light on the glasses provides enough notice to people around the wearer.

Polonetsky highlighted another problem: people around the wearer have no clear way to give or refuse permission when the device captures information about them. Smart glasses can also collect different types of information through a wearable interface, creating questions about how bystanders can exercise control over that information.

He suggested technical measures such as deleting or blurring information about bystanders and processing sensor data on the device instead of sending it to the cloud.

What has India’s experience shown? India has already seen disputes over the use of smart glasses in public spaces.

• Meta smart glasses: A Delhi resident sent a legal notice to Meta and an Instagram creator in August after alleging that the creator recorded him at a Khan Market café using Meta smart glasses without his knowledge. The notice also questioned Meta’s responsibility as the manufacturer of camera-equipped glasses.
• Delhi Police: An image of a Delhi Police officer wearing Meta smart glasses while monitoring a protest at Jantar Mantar in July raised concerns about the use of camera-equipped wearables for surveillance. The development followed MediaNama’s earlier reporting on the force’s plan to use AI-powered smart glasses with facial recognition to identify wanted individuals.
• Lenskart: B by Lenskart had received at least 30,000 pre-orders by May. The company did not explain how it planned to address privacy concerns around people being recorded without their knowledge.

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