Norway plans to ban new facial recognition features from meta glasses

Meta found herself in the crossfire for many reasons, including her Meta Glasses. Not only has the company faced litigation over concerns that employees would be exposed to nudity and other explicit content, but there have also been concerns about how Meta Glasses record people in everyday life without them being aware. To combat this, Meta added an indicator light that is supposed to indicate when wearers are recording. Unfortunately, modders have found ways to get around this flag.

With all of these issues, as well as the potential for facial recognition technology in the next version of smart glasses, some countries have gone so far as to start talking about banning the glasses altogether. According to multiple reports, Norway is already considering banning Meta smart glasses, with the country’s digital minister saying the government is looking at ways to regulate the use of camera-equipped wearable devices (via AndroidPolice). Given ongoing concerns about user privacy and how smart glasses may infringe on it, this potential ban seems like something that’s been a long time coming.

Exactly what Norway will decide is unclear at the moment. However, based on reports currently circulating, Norway could either impose some restrictions to limit recording in public places or even ban the use of smart glasses altogether. That’s because the main concerns here aren’t just about recording. There are also concerns about how easily these internet-connected devices could be hacked, as well as how much AI might be integrated into these devices in the future. There is no doubt that the risk of abuse when wearing smart glasses is high.

However, finding a way forward that can actually deliver a solution will be essential for the Norwegian government. But with so many concerns, Norway is probably far from the last to consider introducing restrictions on these types of devices. We’re already seeing regulatory changes in the United States when it comes to technology, thanks to the FCC’s ban on foreign-made routers, as well as its approach to handling foreign-made robot vacuums.