TL;DR
On Monday 5 October, Norway’s government announced plans for a time-limited ban on wearing AI glasses in selected locations, saying people risk being recorded without realising it. Crowded public spaces and privacy-sensitive settings such as changing rooms are both on the list. It is not seeking a total ban, and it wants a bill before parliament as soon as possible.
Where the ban could apply
According to the government’s statement, as reported by Reuters, the restriction could reach busy public spaces: beaches, parks, events, museums and shopping centres. Places used by children, including schools, youth clubs and playgrounds, are also in scope, as are settings where people expect privacy, such as GP surgeries, pools and gyms where people change.
Private use would remain lawful, as would wearing the glasses where nobody else risks being filmed without agreeing to it.
Torgeir Micaelsen, the minister for digitalisation and public governance, said: “I am worried that new, powerful technology is being introduced where people risk being photographed, filmed or audio-recorded without knowing it.”
Still to be settled
The government has not yet decided which devices would be caught. Options include glasses that record video and sound, glasses that pair a camera with AI features, or a wider class of body-worn kit with cameras, microphones or AI. Alongside the bill, the minority government will appoint experts to recommend lasting rules for body-worn technology across the country.
How the UK compares
In the UK, the debate has so far run through campaigners and the regulator. We covered a campaign over Meta’s glasses on the Tube in September. Soon after, the ICO’s chief executive Paul Arnold, who is severely visually impaired, set out the regulator’s thinking. He wrote that he was “shocked and appalled” by some uses, but also that such technology has helped him work more independently.
In our view, Norway’s carve-out for private use, and its focus on places rather than devices, looks designed to leave room for that kind of assistive use, though the government has not said so.
Looking forward
The detail to watch is the device definition, since it decides whether the ban hits only camera glasses or every body-worn recorder. We also think a formal proposal from a European government gives UK campaigners a concrete model to point to, and UK venues such as gyms, pools and schools may want to settle their own policies on AI glasses before anyone asks them to.