Norway drafts limits on smart glasses filming

Norway's move is the first major government crackdown on smart glasses, but its shape is telling. Rather than a blanket ban, the government said appropriate use could be where there was no risk of filming people without their consent — a consent-based standard rather than a prohibition. A draft law is set to go to parliament, and the government called the effort a "high priority".

The context is a wider pushback already underway. Australia is considering a ban in certain public spaces, and courtrooms in several countries have issued bans as wearable technology use increases. The concern is captured bluntly by campaigners who have dubbed the devices "pervert technology", and by Micaelsen's warning that a society where people fear hidden recordings "can be experienced as unsafe and cause us to withdraw".

What is undecided is how far the rules will reach. US tech companies such as Meta, Google, and OpenAI see smart glasses as a possible replacement for mobile phones as the main gateway to AI, and analysts at Counterpoint Research estimate consumers will spend more than $1 trillion between 2026 and 2032 on wearable devices. Whether consent-based limits — rather than outright bans — become the template is likely to determine how much of that spending lands in public spaces.