Dutch privacy watchdog calls for camera glasses ban in hospitals and courts
Seeing is believing, but knowing when you’re being recorded is another matter.
Detection system spots smart glasses and Flock cameras. Image source: Amazon UK | Shutterstock
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- The Dutch privacy watchdog wants camera glasses banned in hospitals, courthouses, and other sensitive places.
- The authority says people often cannot tell when camera glasses are recording or analyzing them.
- GDPR rules protect recognizable people from having footage shared without their consent.
- Cheap smart glasses may also expose photos, audio, stored files, and personal details to attackers.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
Glasses equipped with cameras are rapidly gaining popularity, but they come at the expense of our privacy. The Dutch data protection authority argues that a ban should be introduced at sensitive locations, such as hospitals and courthouses.
Shooting a video or taking photographs in public spaces generally isn’t prohibited. However, that doesn’t mean you can do whatever you like with the footage or photos, especially if someone is clearly recognizable.
In that case, distributing video footage or images on social media, for example, isn’t allowed under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Europe’s privacy and data protection legislation.
Sharing is only permitted if you have consent. However, asking everyone for permission in public spaces is practically impossible.
“People should be able to walk down the street freely without having to worry that someone is secretly recording them and then sharing the footage or posting it online. The GDPR specifically protects people who are captured on camera without their consent,” Katja Mur, Board Member of the Dutch data protection authority, says in a statement.
Camera glasses look like regular glasses, but have a camera and microphones built into the frame. It’s almost impossible for bystanders to tell whether someone is just looking at them or also filming them. That’s what makes them a privacy risk.
“In places such as hospitals, courthouses, and religious buildings, people must be able to rely on the fact that they’re not being filmed or analyzed without their knowledge,” the Dutch data protection authority warns.
Therefore, owners and managers of such facilities should prohibit wearing and using camera glasses in their house rules and regulations.
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The latest models of camera glasses aren’t just equipped with cameras and microphones but also with AI. By simply looking at something, like a sculpture, users can ask the AI assistant what they’re seeing.
This gives rise to a new privacy concern: it’s no longer a matter of “am I being filmed?” but also “am I being analyzed by AI and what happens to my data?”
The conversation on this topic is live. Join in the discussion.
Even if no video or photo is stored, personal data can be processed with such AI features.
When wearing camera glasses, it’s not just our privacy that’s at risk. ABC News Australia tested 2 cheap smart glasses and found that strangers could connect to them without a password.
In addition, attackers could take photos or videos, copy stored files, and intercept audio or images. Even a user’s email address and date of birth were visible. This shows that security is also a major risk when using smart glasses.
