Smart Glasses: EDPB Wants Lights, Sounds and Designs That Reveal Filming

Smart Glasses: EDPB Wants Lights, Sounds and Designs That Reveal Filming

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) issued non-binding guidance on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, stating that smart glasses must give "clear warnings" when they record audio and video. The guidance landed in the middle of a European backlash against the product category: Norway proposed a temporary ban just a week earlier, Oslo has already imposed a school ban, and a campaign in the UK and Ireland has gathered more than 10,000 signatures. Direct quotations in this article are translated from English-language source reporting.

What the Guidance Actually Says

The EDPB, the EU's central body for cooperation between national data protection authorities, warned in the guidance — aimed at both users and manufacturers — that smart glasses raise "serious privacy problems," according to AFP's reporting (Yahoo News).

"These devices look like ordinary glasses, but they contain cameras and microphones and are connected to the internet. This raises serious privacy problems, since people can be filmed without knowing it," EDPB chair Anu Talus said in a statement quoted by AFP.

Talus also gave concrete examples of how manufacturers can signal recording: "Smart glasses should make recording obvious — for example, with clear LED lights, audio signals or cues upon voice activation, privacy-friendly smartphone notifications, or unique design."

And she set a standard: "These warnings must be reliable, hard to ignore and always up to date."

The board also pointed to "sensitive" locations such as schools and hospitals, as well as public places like beaches, as high-risk areas, and highlighted children as "more vulnerable to hidden or intrusive processing of their personal data."

The backdrop, according to AFP, is a public reaction in recent months to covertly filmed footage of girls and women.

The Wave That Came First

The guidance came eight days after the Norwegian government on October 5, 2026 announced that it will propose a temporary ban on smart glasses in certain public places. The ban could cover places where the public regularly gathers, such as parks, beaches, museums, shopping centers and public events, the government said in a statement quoted by Reuters (US News).

"I am concerned that new, powerful technology is being introduced where people risk being photographed, filmed or audio-recorded without knowing it," digitalisation and public administration minister Torgeir Micaelsen told Reuters.

Several elements of the Norwegian proposal remain unresolved. The minority government will bring legislation before parliament "as soon as possible" and establish an expert group to examine permanent national regulation of body-worn technology. Which categories of devices the ban should cover — for example, glasses with AI functions — has not been decided, and private use will remain permitted. Oslo has already chosen to ban camera glasses in schools.

Sales Halts and Campaigns

The pressure is not only regulatory. In the Netherlands and Belgium, the large optical chain Hans Anders has paused sales of Meta glasses in its stores, Business Insider reports (Yahoo News). The Dutch privacy authority has told parliament it will await the findings of a broader EU report before potentially taking action.

In the UK and Ireland, the "Stop Smart Glasses" campaign has gathered more than 10,000 signatures on a petition demanding that retailers stop selling the glasses — a level that requires the UK government to respond, according to AFP.

And the story is not purely European. In July 2026, New York became the first US state to ban smart glasses in "state, county, municipal and town courts," the New York Post reports (NY Post), and nightclubs in New York have imposed their own bans.

How Meta Responds

Meta's smart glasses, developed together with Ray-Ban owner EssilorLuxottica, have according to AFP reached sales "in the millions" worldwide — though no exact figure has been given. The glasses have a blinking LED light when recording.

The company says it has taken several steps to prevent users from manipulating the light, a central concern for critics. A Meta spokesperson explained the mechanism to Business Insider: "Every pair with a camera has a bright light on the front that blinks when you take a photo or video. It cannot be switched off, and the camera is deactivated if anyone covers or tampers with it — something smartphones and other cameras do not have."

Meta's technology chief Andrew Bosworth has placed responsibility for misuse on a few "bad actors" who deactivate the LED indicator — something that, according to Business Insider, has given the glasses a reputation as "pervert glasses." Meta recently rolled out a software update in which the camera does not work if the light is covered or tampered with.

What the Guidance Means — and What It Doesn't

The most important caveat is its status: the EDPB's guidance is non-binding. The sources do not establish that it will trigger enforcement or formal rules; the Dutch authorities are explicitly waiting for a broader EU report before considering action. For manufacturers like Meta, Talus's standards — warnings that are reliable, hard to ignore and always up to date — are for now a signal of what regulators think, not a requirement with direct legal effect.

Norway is not further along than a legislative proposal either: the minority government must secure a majority in parliament, and the scope of the devices to be covered is unresolved. All the key primary documents — the EDPB's guidance, the Norwegian government's announcement and Meta's statements — are so far available only through secondary reporting from AFP, Reuters and Business Insider.

What is clear, however, is the direction. Two regulatory actions in eight days in Europe, a court ban in New York earlier this year, one retail sales halt and a public petition that compels a government response show that the question of whether a small LED light is sufficient protection against cameras that look like ordinary glasses is heading into formal regulation on both sides of the Atlantic.