Norway is preparing to put AI glasses off-limits in some public places, bringing wearable cameras and microphones into a growing privacy dispute.
The country plans to propose a temporary ban covering selected locations after officials warned that people can be photographed, filmed, or recorded without realizing it. No national ban is in force yet.
Several details remain open, including where restrictions would apply and how lawmakers will define the devices covered. Those choices will determine how far the rules reach.
Higher-risk public spaces are first in line
Norway’s announcement identifies several types of places where AI glasses could be restricted. Government officials plan to send legislation to the Storting as quickly as possible.
Possible locations include:
- Parks, beaches, museums, shopping centers, and public events
- Schools, kindergartens, playgrounds, and other places frequented by children
- Health facilities, including doctors’ offices
- Swimming pools, gyms, and other facilities with changing rooms or showers
Universities and other higher-education institutions are also being considered. Private use would remain possible where other people are not at risk of being recorded without consent. Officials expect exemptions for vulnerable groups and certain socially beneficial uses.
An expert group will examine body-worn technology separately and advise the government on permanent national regulation. Temporary restrictions would give officials time to study the technology and its privacy implications before developing those longer-term rules.
Device scope could extend past AI-branded glasses
Government officials are considering whether the temporary rules should cover ordinary glasses with cameras and audio recording, eyewear that combines cameras with AI, or other body-worn technology with recording or AI functions.
That distinction matters because regulation based on capability rather than marketing could apply to a much wider range of products as companies add cameras, microphones, and AI features to everyday wearables.
Norwegian privacy law already applies to some uses of smart glasses. In a June response to Parliament, then-Digitalisation Minister Karianne Tung said biometric remote identification without consent would often already be illegal.
She also identified a problem specific to smart glasses because people nearby may have difficulty knowing when audio, images, or other information are being collected.
Potential reach grows as more vendors, such as Samsung and Google, enter the category. Several product lines could therefore encounter the same rules depending on which capabilities lawmakers include. Administrative controls, camera access, and data handling remain important considerations for organizations evaluating the devices.
What eWeek found: Workplace policies are moving ahead of national law
eWeek reviewed earlier Norwegian government guidance and workplace rules and found employers had started making their own decisions before the Oct. 5 proposal.
In August, the Digitalisation Ministry urged public and private leaders to decide whether smart glasses or similar devices should be allowed in their workplaces. Officials also referred to AI appearing in earbuds, caps, and other everyday wearable objects.
Several organizations acted. DNB prohibited smart glasses across its premises over risks involving sensitive customer information and business secrets. Equinor does not allow the devices in its offices without explicit permission, citing information security and unauthorized recording.
Moss municipality introduced a temporary restriction covering AI glasses, camera glasses, and similar body-worn technology across municipal operations.
If you oversee workplace technology, start with device capabilities instead of product names. Identify wearables that can capture or analyze surrounding audio and images, then map them to offices, meeting rooms, customer-facing areas, or other locations where sensitive information is handled.
Policies should address employee-owned devices and visitors, with documented exceptions for approved work or accessibility uses.
IT and security teams should also check what happens after information is captured. Determine whether recording functions can be disabled centrally, whether access is logged, where recordings are stored, and who can review them.
Human review of footage captured through Meta AI glasses has demonstrated how recordings can move into AI training workflows, and always-listening smart glasses can create similar governance issues around meetings and confidential conversations.
Procurement teams can make those answers part of device approval before new wearables enter an office. Norway’s final law will determine the national rules, but employers do not need to wait to decide how recording-capable wearables fit inside their own security and privacy policies.
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