New York wants to make sure no one can surreptitiously record court proceedings using their smart glasses. Beginning July 20, all New York State courts will officially ban smart glasses from their premises. It applies to all 1,240 state, county, city and village courts in New York. According to local publication SyracuseSigns announcing the ban were posted last week on the doors of the Honorable James C. Torney III Criminal Courthouse.
The ban prohibits all types of glasses and headgear equipped with cameras and microphones inside all Unified Court System facilities. Even smart glasses with prescription lenses are included, and signs posted at courthouses ask people to bring a regular pair of glasses to use while inside. While some courts in other states, like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, already don’t allow smart glasses on their premises, New York is the first state to completely ban smart glasses.
Why did the state ban smart glasses in court?
Recording is generally not permitted in courts, and the rules of the New York State Unified Court System explicitly state that “the taking of photographs, films, or videotapes, or audio recording, broadcast, or television broadcast, in any courthouse, including any courtroom, office, or hallway, at any time and on any occasion, whether or not the court is in session, is prohibited.”
Smart glasses could make sneaky recording easier, since there’s no need to raise a camera or phone to start taking video. They usually have lights that turn on and flash to indicate that the user is taking photos or recording video, but users can turn them off or have them removed by a modder for a price.
A high-profile case that drew attention to the use of smart glasses in court occurred in February, when Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg testified at a jury trial regarding his social media addiction. Members of his team wore Meta Ray-Ban glasses when they escorted him inside, prompting the judge to issue a warning not to record courtroom proceedings with those devices. Although it is unclear whether any of them had used their glasses in court before the warning, the judge was reportedly concerned about jurors being recorded and identified.
Note that the Meta smart glasses, which are perhaps the most popular and easily accessible these days, will not take photos or videos if the device’s system detects that its capture LED is obscured. The company, in a post addressing backlash against its devices, also said it was rolling out an update that would disable the camera if its system detects that the capture LED had been physically tampered with or destroyed.
How will the ban be enforced?
It doesn’t matter if the user has their glasses modified, because New York courts won’t even allow them to take their devices indoors. People wearing them will be required to hand them over to uniformed court officers before being allowed into a building, even if they are attorneys or staff members.
No more restrictions on smart glasses
Earlier this year, cruise line Royal Caribbean banned smart glasses in certain areas on board, including public restrooms, youth program areas, medical areas and casinos. Last year, MSC Cruises partially banned the devices, citing privacy concerns. Illinois lawmakers are also considering adding smart glasses to the list of devices banned from drivers as part of their efforts to combat distracted driving. We’ll likely see more places place restrictions on devices as people’s concerns about their ability to sneakily take videos and images continue to grow.
