Australia’s online safety regulator says smart glasses should automatically blur people’s faces while filming

In advice to industry published on Monday, the office of the eSafety commissioner warned that while smart glasses with cameras, such as Meta’s Ray-Ban, can offer accessibility benefits to low vision or blind people, companies might pit “accessibility benefits against safety and privacy considerations”, and noted there was already a backlash to the technology.

There are already reports of women being filmed without their consent and their interactions with a glasses-wearing influencer posted on social media. The eSafety commission also said many companies were placing responsibility on consumers to use the glasses safely when “asking people to use a product responsibly is not an adequate safety policy”.

eSafety emphasized that the design features should include clear visual indicators when recording audio or video that cannot be disabled or obscured. They should also not be able to identify members of the public and should automatically blur people’s faces where they have not provided informed consent.

The eSafety commissioner currently has no powers to force the companies to make the changes and the federal government is facing pressure to step in as the market for smart glasses grows. The attorney general will separately release an exposure draft for the government’s second round of privacy reforms that will seek to address rules around smart glasses.