UK considers smart glasses restrictions over secret filming

By Grace Kim

The UK government is considering a possible smart glasses sales ban for certain users and restrictions on use in specific settings after concerns about covert filming of women, safeguarding minister Satvir Kaur told the House of Commons.

Kaur said the government was examining how to balance the devices’ benefits against possible harm. “The benefits of smart glasses must be weighed against the harms they can cause. The government is already looking into options to restrict smart glasses in certain settings and restricting the sale to certain users.”

What restrictions are under review?

Kaur said people who use smart glasses to film already risk breaking the law in settings where cameras are prohibited, such as a court.

She also pointed to rules governing sensitive environments. “Other settings, such as healthcare and education, have existing safeguarding or professional policies that are relevant to smart glasses and any kind of digital recording. NHS England and the Department for Education are currently looking into wearable technology in certain settings as well.”

Kaur identified these areas of policy work:

• A possible restriction on sales “to certain users.”
• Options to restrict smart glasses “in certain settings.”
• Reviews of wearable technology by NHS England and the Department for Education under existing safeguarding and professional policies.

Kaur’s statement connects restrictions on sales with limits on use in defined places. The court example involves an existing camera prohibition; the healthcare and education work relies on policies governing safeguarding and professional recording.

The immediate policy questions are who may buy smart glasses and where they may be used.

Why is consent driving the debate?

Anna Sabine, a Liberal Democrat MP and the party’s culture spokesperson who held Wednesday’s debate, said: “Women are reporting waking up after nights out to find videos of themselves have gone viral online, filmed without their knowledge or consent by men wearing smart glasses.”

Sabine continued: “To me, these devices not only have the potential to erode safety and privacy in public spaces, but raise really important questions about consent.”

Sabine said one of the selling points in advertisements was that the glasses could be used “to film discreetly”. She said she did not want parliamentarians to “only regulate once it is too late”.

Kaur’s proposal raises two questions: who may buy the devices and where they may be used. Sabine framed the stakes through consent in public spaces, where women have reported finding covert recordings of themselves online after nights out.

Consent in public spaces is the pressure point for any restriction.

What benefits do smart glasses provide?

Kaur said smart glasses can come with built-in cameras, microphones and displays and could “be hugely beneficial” to some people.

“For example, for those that are visually impaired, smart glasses have been a gamechanger, helping them navigate the world around them,” Kaur said.

Jason O’Connell, a Reform UK MS for Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr, used a different feature last month: a built-in teleprompter. He read a speech with it in the Senedd’s debating chamber and defended the technology’s use there.

“One of the things I identified, a weakness of mine, was that my head was down looking at my notes a lot and I wanted to get away from that,” O’Connell told the BBC’s Politics Wales.

Accessibility and teleprompting are the practical uses Kaur and O’Connell defended.

What happens next?

Kaur’s options focus on who can buy smart glasses and where they can be used. Sabine’s objections focus on consent in public spaces, while Kaur and O’Connell identify accessibility and teleprompting as practical uses.

The next test for Kaur’s options is whether the government sets specific limits on sales and use.