Norway will move forward with (temporary) prohibition of smart glasses

O norway government plans to move forward with a temporary ban on some smart glasses sites, which have been the subject of strong criticism and fears related to privacy.

According to Associated Press, the norwegian government said it plans to present a proposal in parliament “as soon as possible” as a way to have more time to decide on the regulations that should be definitively applied.

For the time being, the Norwegian authorities estimate that smart glasses may be banned in places where the “privacy is particularly important”, as in health care units, gyms, locker rooms, locker rooms and other places with higher concentration of children such as schools, kindergartens or playgrounds.

However, the possibility of these gadgets being banned from concerts, sporting events, parks, beaches, museums or shopping centers is not yet ruled out. On the other hand, the government is aware that exceptions can be created for groups to whom smart glasses present “beneficial social uses”.

“We do not want a society where people are concerned about audio recordings, photographs and recordings captured in secret in places and situations where they are used to not being monitored”, explained the Norwegian Minister for Digitization, Torgeir Miceaelsen. “A society like this can be understood as insecure and lead to isolation”.

It must be remembered that Meta – the company responsible for Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp – is the one with the most popular smart glasses today. The glasses, developed in collaboration with Ray-Ban, were recently entitled to a cameraless version as a result of the debate that has been held on these gadgets.

The announcement of this decision has already made a well-known glass shop in the Netherlands, Hans Anders, has already decided to suspend sales of Meta’s smart glasses.

“ This decision was taken following the ongoing public and political debate on smart glasses and the questions raised about the conditions under which this technology can be used”, can be read in Hans Anders' statement, noting that you will expect results from this debate to make a final decision.