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.
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