Denmark’s data protection authority, Datatilsynet, says camera-equipped AI glasses raise extensive privacy problems and could amount to a democratization of surveillance in public spaces.
The assessment was published Friday by DR, which spoke with Allan Frank, IT security specialist and jurist at Datatilsynet. According to Frank, the glasses, sold in frames from brands such as Ray-Ban and Oakley, come with an extremely large number of data protection issues.
Frank told DR that the problem lies in how the glasses are used, not in the product itself. Filming at home carries no consequences, he said, but recording in public can put users on the wrong side of the law. Identifiable people in video recordings count as personal data under the GDPR, and sharing such footage online without consent is unlawful.
Users may also breach Denmark’s television surveillance law, which bars private individuals from continuous or regularly repeated surveillance of streets and public places. Frank said that regularly filming ordinary people on the street contributes to a form of surveillance. He compared the issue to certain cars that also record video.
Datatilsynet additionally has concerns about how companies such as Meta process the recordings, and whether the glasses’ artificial intelligence could be used for facial recognition, per DR. Frank said the authority will take a position if it receives concrete complaints. None had been submitted as of Friday.
Meta did not answer DR’s specific questions about data storage, but sent a written response to the criticism. The company said trust is essential for both wearers and the people around them, and that privacy and safety were built into the glasses from the start. Every pair has a recording LED that flashes during photos and video, cannot be switched off, and disables the camera if it is covered or damaged.
Earlier reporting on data handling
The BBC reported in the spring that Meta had said subcontractors can in some cases review content recorded with the glasses to improve the experience, with personal data blurred. That statement followed reporting by Svenska Dagbladet and Göteborgs-Posten that videos from the glasses were sometimes reviewed by a Kenya-based Meta subcontractor.
Scrutiny has intensified in the Nordic region. Two weeks ago, the director of Norway’s Datatilsynet, Line Coll, urged the Stortinget to consider halting sales of smart glasses. She told Juristen that the risk of being detected is very small when someone wears dark sunglasses, and that filming with glasses is harder to spot than with a phone.
In Denmark, criticism has focused on marketing. DR reports that an advertising campaign for Meta’s glasses at Euroman and Eurowoman was halted after backlash, while the influencers Sus Wilkens and Cecilie Haugaard deleted their Instagram promotions. The optician chain Synoptik was also criticized. In Germany, the organization HateAid filed a criminal complaint this week against Meta, several eyewear brands and retailers selling the glasses.
