Norway Plans to Regulate Smart Glasses and Consider Facial Recognition Ban Amid Privacy Concerns

Norway Moves to Regulate 'Pervert Glasses,' Weighs Facial Recognition Ban

The Norwegian Consumer Council called on retailers to halt sales of the devices until there is legal clarity. Norway plans to regulate smart glasses more tightly and is considering a ban on facial recognition in public spaces, Digitalisation Minister Karianne Tung said on August 25. Artificial intelligence is increasingly being paired with cameras and microphones built into glasses, earbuds and caps, Tung said in a statement, adding that Norway "must avoid this equipment being used to monitor other people in public spaces." She said she would appoint an expert group to advise the government on protecting consumers from the technology, and urged public and private organizations to draw up their own guidelines while the rules are written. No timetable has been set. Finn Lützow-Holm Myrstad, head of digital policy at the Norwegian Consumer Council, welcomed the move but said shops should stop selling smart glasses until the law is settled. Meta's facial recognition is built and awaiting rollout, he said, and banning the feature would not stop wearers from filming people covertly, calling the potential for abuse of the technology "enormous." The backlash against smart glasses A BBC investigation in January found women were being secretly filmed with Ray-Ban Meta glasses after being approached in public, with the footage posted to TikTok. Swedish newspapers reported in February that Nairobi-based contractors hired to train Meta's AI had reviewed recordings of people undressing, using bathrooms and having sex. The ACLU and 75 other groups urged Meta in April to abandon facial recognition in the glasses, calling it a line society should not cross. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton opened an investigation in May, and Meta patched the devices in July after users found ways to defeat the light that signals recording. Meta has since patented eyewear that recognizes faces and logs what wearers do. Privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo, meanwhile, sold out of its deliberately camera-free "Normal F***ing Sunglasses" in under a week. Comic Con organizer Monopoly Events and the DEF CON security conference have both barred the glasses from their venues, and Police Scotland opened an investigation in July into a TikToker accused of filming people with a pair. Norway would be among the first countries to legislate specifically for the devices. Tung's ministry has not said when the expert group will convene or when a bill might follow.

Norway knows where Meta's 'pervert glasses' may be heading and every other country should pay attention

It's only a matter of time before Meta tries to add facial recognition to smart glasses, the Norwegian government believes. Camera-equipped smart glasses could be the subject of tighter restrictions in Norway as lawmakers consider regulating the use of devices like Meta's specs, which have been fairly or unfairly-dubbed 'pervert glasses'. Norway's digital minister digital minister Karianne Tung says (via The Local) there's a "clear trend toward combining artificial intelligence with cameras and microphones built into glasses, headphones, hats and other objects we use in everyday life. We must prevent this equipment from being used to monitor other people in public places." Those features are already causing consternation among privacy advocates, due to the propensity of users to film members of the public without express consent. That in itself can be very problematic (hence the term pervert glasses). However, the Norwegians are already considering the consequences of what would happen if facial recognition technology is added to the mix. Via Facebook and Instagram Meta has access to the facial data of billions of users worldwide. Should the social media company seek to add facial recognition software, the privacy quagmire becomes even harder to escape. The Norwegian Consumer Council's head of digital policy, Finn Lützow-Holm Myrstad adds: "Meta already has this technology ready to go, and it is only a matter of time before it is rolled out in the glasses," he said. "The potential for abuse is enormous." In June, a Wired report uncovered code suggesting that Meta is adding facial recognition to its controversial smart glasses. "Code discreetly added to Meta's AI app over multiple updates this year shows that the feature, internally called "NameTag," identifies people captured by the glasses' camera and, when activated, alerts the wearer when it recognises someone," the report says. Meta itself has been struggling to stay ahead of the privacy concerns. However, this one would be very much of its own making.