Overview
- The European Data Protection Board issued non-binding guidance on Tuesday that says smart glasses must give clear, hard-to-ignore signals when they are recording.
- The EDPB listed specific design measures such as bright LED lights, audible alerts, voice-activation cues, phone notifications and distinct shapes so bystanders can see or hear when they are being filmed.
- The guidance narrows the GDPR household exemption for wearable cameras by saying footage shared publicly is not covered and it signals that manufacturers and app providers can be held responsible for compliance.
- National moves and public campaigns have already followed public complaints about secretly filmed footage, with Norway proposing temporary limits in some public places and Oslo banning camera-equipped glasses in schools.
- The EDPB also commissioned a social-acceptability study and urged industry-wide standards, steps that could prompt manufacturers to redesign products, change sales practices in Europe, or trigger stricter national enforcement.