1 July 2026, 01:10 - Camera Glasses Regulation

There is talk of regulating smart glasses, perhaps outright banning them. I can agree with regulation, but not with a ban.

For a lot of folks with severe visual impairments, smart glasses paired with image recognition are a great aid. For general usage by other people, a convenient glasses-based camera is great for capturing the exact perspective of the wearer while avoiding bulky head mounted camera gear.

However, what isn’t right is creepy, discreet, non-consensual recording, especially given who the recordings are in the hands of. Social media companies are not good custodians of data, Meta especially not. They should not share people’s eyes into the world. It is true that in many places you are legally able to record in public, but the legal fact doesn’t change the ethical and moral correctness. Flock has surveillance cameras across the United States for tracking people’s every move, and while legal, I think them reprehensible. Same applies to privacy-eroding face based cameras.

Smart glasses should use local or data-protections vetted object recognition models, be disconnected from surveillance operations and big tech, and have large, bright recording lights that are directly integrated with the camera, such that the camera cannot operate in isolation. It should also be made clear they are camera equipped, perhaps with an overt reflective patch as part of their design.

I don’t think a ban it a good idea, as bans are very rarely good ideas, but I do think that regulation is necessary and prudent. I fear that restricting their availability so they can only be used as an accessibility aid would end commercial investment into them entirely, but then removing the data-collecting ‘perv glasses’ aspects would also dissuade companies from further developing them.