Smart Glasses Face Problems In Europe As France Hears A Legal Probe & Norway Eyes A Ban

Smart glasses are selling fast, but the discreet cameras driving their appeal are now attracting tougher scrutiny.

France has opened a criminal probe linked to alleged sexual harassment, while Norway is considering restrictions on camera-enabled wearables over privacy concerns.
 

TL;DR

 

• Paris prosecutors opened at least one criminal probe tied to complaints about women being filmed with smart glasses and videos posted online without consent.
• France’s data protection authority has received workplace complaints and questions from employers about banning the devices.
• Norway is considering restrictions on camera-equipped wearables and may target facial recognition in public places.

 

Smart Glasses Draw French Scrutiny Over Alleged Harassment And Workplace Privacy

Paris prosecutors have opened at least one criminal investigation after complaints linked to a social media trend involving smart glasses allegedly being used to film women on the street without their consent before footage was posted online. Prosecutors did not identify which brand was involved.

France’s cybercrime unit also tested smart glasses two weeks before the report to better understand the offenses the devices could enable. The scrutiny comes as AI-enabled smart glasses become more mainstream, particularly devices made by Meta with EssilorLuxottica.

Those glasses hold roughly 76% of the global smart-glasses market and sold 7 million units last year. Their embedded cameras can record discreetly, a capability central to the debate over whether people around a wearer can meaningfully know when they are being filmed.

France’s data protection regulator, CNIL, has received fewer than 10 complaints involving smart glasses in workplaces. It is also being contacted more often by businesses asking whether the devices can be banned at work, pushing the issue into offices.

French law provides privacy protections for recording a person in a private place without consent, with penalties of up to one year in prison or a €45,000 fine. Regulators and legal sources noted that enforcement becomes harder when recordings are quickly shared online.
 

 

Norway Considers Smart Glasses Restrictions As Camera Wearables Raise Surveillance Concerns

France is not alone in questioning how far camera-enabled wearables should be allowed to go.

Norway is considering regulation that could restrict smart glasses and connected wearables fitted with cameras, microphones, and potentially facial-recognition capabilities.

Norway’s digital minister Karianne Tung said there is a “clear trend toward combining artificial intelligence with cameras and microphones built into glasses, headphones, hats and other objects we use in everyday life.”

The concern is not simply that the devices can record, but that increasingly capable hardware and AI could make passive surveillance easier. Tung said Norway must prevent such equipment from being used to monitor people in public places, and the government plans an expert group to advise on privacy protections.
 

 

Why Smart Glasses Privacy Rules Are Becoming Harder To Ignore

The growing backlash puts smart-glasses makers in an uncomfortable position. The devices are gaining traction because they can capture photos and video quickly and discreetly, but those same features create challenges around consent, workplace security, harassment, and surveillance.

Meta said it built privacy protections into its AI glasses and would continue strengthening them as the devices become more capable. Even so, scrutiny is widening, suggesting the next phase of smart-glasses growth may depend as much on regulation around recording and consent as on new features.