Norway smart glasses rules may ban face recognition

Norway said Tuesday it plans to regulate smart glasses and similar devices more strictly and is considering a ban on features that enable facial recognition in public spaces.

Digitalisation Minister Karianne Tung said new technology was putting private life and privacy under pressure. She said a stricter approach could include banning facial-recognition features that identify other people in public.

Tung said she planned to appoint an expert group to advise the government on how to better protect consumers. She also urged public and private organisations to consider their own guidelines.

Smart glasses can let wearers take photos and videos, listen to music, make phone calls, translate signs, project text or maps into their field of view, or interact with an integrated AI assistant.

Tung said artificial intelligence was increasingly being combined with cameras and microphones built into everyday items such as glasses, earbuds and caps. She said Norway must avoid such equipment being used to monitor other people in public spaces.

Finn Lutzow-Holm Myrstad, head of digital policy at the Norwegian Consumer Council, welcomed the government's move and urged retailers to stop selling smart glasses until the law is clearer.

Myrstad said Meta already had facial-recognition technology ready for its smart glasses and warned that a ban on such features would not stop wearers from filming people covertly.