UK weighs smart glasses restrictions over secret filming concerns
Safeguarding minister Satvir Kaur tells MPs the government is examining limits on where smart glasses can be used and who can buy them.
At a glance
- The UK government is considering restrictions on smart glasses, including limiting sales to certain users.
- Safeguarding minister Satvir Kaur said the benefits of the devices must be weighed against the harms they can cause.
- Liberal Democrat MP Anna Sabine said women have found videos of themselves filmed without consent by men wearing the glasses.
The UK government is considering restrictions on smart glasses, including limits on who can buy them, over concerns the camera-equipped devices are being used to film women without their knowledge, a minister has told MPs.
Speaking in the House of Commons, the safeguarding minister, Satvir Kaur, said the benefits of the technology had to be weighed against the harms it can cause, and that the government is already looking into "options to restrict smart glasses in certain settings and restricting the sale to certain users".
Existing rules and reviews
Kaur said people who use smart glasses to film already risk breaking the law in some places, such as a court where cameras are prohibited. Other settings, including healthcare and education, have safeguarding or professional policies that apply to smart glasses and other forms of digital recording, she added, and NHS England and the Department for Education are looking into wearable technology in certain settings.
The debate was held by Anna Sabine, a Liberal Democrat MP and the party's culture spokesperson. She said women were reporting waking up after nights out to find videos of themselves had gone viral, filmed without their knowledge or consent by men wearing smart glasses. Sabine said one of the selling points of the glasses in advertisements was that they could be used to film discreetly, and warned parliamentarians against regulating only "once it is too late".
Benefits cited
Kaur said smart glasses, which can come with built-in cameras, microphones and displays, could be hugely beneficial to some people. For those who are visually impaired, she said, the devices have been "a gamechanger", helping them navigate the world around them.
Use of the devices by politicians has also drawn attention. Jason O'Connell, a Reform UK MS for Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr, defended reading a speech from the teleprompter feature built into his smart glasses in the Senedd last month. He told BBC Politics Wales that a weakness of his was looking down at his notes too much, and he wanted to get away from that.
Meta, which makes camera-equipped smart glasses, said people use its glasses because they are helpful and let them stay in the moment, from listening to music to live translation and hands-free calls. A spokesperson said the glasses "were built to be noticed", with a bright light on the front that blinks when a photo or video is taken, cannot be turned off, and disables the camera if someone covers or tampers with it.
Source: The Guardian Technology.
Questions and answers
- Is the UK banning smart glasses?
- No ban has been announced. Safeguarding minister Satvir Kaur said the government is looking into options to restrict smart glasses in certain settings and to restrict sales to certain users.
- Why are smart glasses controversial?
- MPs raised concerns that the built-in cameras are used to film women without their knowledge or consent. Kaur also noted the glasses can be a gamechanger for people who are visually impaired.
- What do smart glasses makers say?
- Meta said its camera-equipped glasses have a bright front light that blinks when a photo or video is taken, that the light cannot be turned off, and that the camera is disabled if someone covers or tampers with it.
