Government wants to ban AI glasses in parks, schools and locker rooms – temporarily
Norway's government announced on Monday, 5 October 2026 that it plans to introduce a proposal for a temporary ban on the use of AI glasses in selected public places. The background is concern that people could be photographed, filmed or audio-recorded without knowing it. The announcement is known through Reuters' coverage of the government's statement, and it comes amid an international backlash against camera- and AI-equipped glasses technology of the Meta Ray-Ban type.
What the government proposes
According to Reuters (via the Wall Street Journal), the government said on Monday that it will propose a temporary ban on the use of AI glasses in places where the public regularly gathers – such as parks, beaches, museums, shopping centres and public events.
According to the statement, the ban could also cover schools, playgrounds and youth clubs, as well as particularly privacy-sensitive locations such as doctors' offices, swimming pools and gyms with changing rooms.
Digitalisation and Public Governance Minister Torgeir Micaelsen said, according to Reuters: "I am worried that new, powerful technology is being introduced where people risk being photographed, filmed or audio-recorded without knowing it."
Not a total ban
The government stressed that it is not aiming for a total ban. Private use, and use where others are not at risk of being filmed without consent, will remain permitted. That means the main target is situations where the wearer's recordings could capture other people in risky or private contexts – not the use of such glasses in general.
What has not yet been decided
The proposal is deliberately open in its design. The government said it will examine which technology the ban should cover – including whether it should apply to glasses with camera and audio recording, glasses with camera and AI functions, or also other body-worn technology with camera, audio recording and/or AI. In other words: it has not yet been decided whether the ban targets camera-only glasses, AI glasses, or the entire category of worn technology.
The minority government also said it will bring forward a bill to parliament "as soon as possible", and that it will establish an expert group to advise on permanent national regulation of body-worn technology. Apart from this phrasing, no timing for the bill has been specified.
It is worth underlining what this is and is not: an announced proposal, not law in force. No text has been presented to parliament, and the definitions of both technology and locations may change along the way.
International pressure on smart glasses
The Norwegian proposal forms part of a broader global backlash against smart glasses equipped with cameras, Livemint wrote, citing Reuters. According to that coverage, Australia is considering restrictions in the public sector, and courts in the UK and the US have already imposed restrictions on camera-equipped smart glasses within their jurisdictions. Recent cases in France and moves by Dutch firms have, according to Reuters, put pressure on Meta and other smart glasses makers.
The details of the British, American, French and Dutch measures are known in this coverage only through secondary summaries; the underlying cases and documents are not available here.
Why the story matters
The core of the conflict is technological: smarter glasses make it practically impossible for those nearby to know when they are recording. An ordinary camera is visible and visibly in use; glasses that look like ordinary glasses can take photos, film and in principle connect recordings to AI services in real time. This is the asymmetry Micaelsen points to – the risk of being recorded "without knowing it" – and it is hard to solve with existing privacy rules, which assume that those recorded have some ability to detect the recording.
A temporary ban is also a tool with its own logic: it gives the authorities time to define permanent regulation via the expert group, without having to wait to enforce anything in the most sensitive locations – changing rooms, doctors' offices, schools – while the technology spreads in the market.
For manufacturers, the development means market access may become fragmented along national borders. Consumers in Norway may in future face rules that distinguish between private use and use where others could be captured on recordings, and between different categories of glasses depending on where the government ultimately lands in its technology scoping.
The open questions
Several central questions remain open after the announcement:
- Technology scoping: Will there be a ban on glasses with camera and audio recording, glasses with camera and AI, or the entire category of body-worn technology with camera, audio recording and/or AI? The government itself says this is under examination.
- Timing: "As soon as possible" is the only timeframe given for the bill to parliament. The minority government's position may also affect how quickly the proposal passes.
- Enforcement: How the ban will be enforced in practice in open places such as parks and beaches is not addressed in the announcement.
- Industry reaction: No available statements from Meta or other manufacturers about the Norwegian proposal appear in the underlying sources.
It should also be noted that the entire announcement is so far known through Reuters' reporting of the government's statement; neither the government's primary document nor the text of the bill is available in the sources behind this story. That means details of implementation may differ from what is now being summarised.
The road ahead
The next milestones are when the government actually brings forward the bill, and when the expert group is established and given its mandate. The two questions – which technology is covered, and what permanent regulation of body-worn technology should look like – will determine whether the Norwegian proposal becomes a narrow measure against camera glasses in specific premises, or something far broader affecting the entire category of worn AI technology. Until then, the main takeaway is that Norway is moving from debate to legislative proposal, as part of an international push against Meta and other makers of camera- and AI-equipped glasses.