Norway Considers Ban On Meta Glasses' New Facial Recognition Features

Meta has found itself in the crossfire quite a bit for numerous reasons, including its Meta Glasses. Not only has the company had litigation brought forward following concerns that employees are being exposed to nudity and other explicit content, but there have also been concerns over how Meta Glasses record people in day-to-day life without them ever being aware. To combat this, Meta added an indicator light that's supposed to show when the wearers are recording. Unfortunately, modders have found ways to get around that indicator.

With all of those issues, as well as the potential for facial recognition tech in its next smart glasses release, some countries have gone so far as to start talking about banning the glasses altogether. According to several reports, Norway is already considering a ban on Meta smart glasses, with the country's digital minister saying that the government is looking for ways to regulate the usage of camera-enabled wearables (via AndroidPolice). Considering the ongoing concerns about user privacy and how smart glasses can intrude on it, this potential ban feels like something that has been a long time coming.

Exactly what Norway will decide here is unclear at the moment. However, from the reports making the rounds right now, Norway could either go with certain restrictions to limit recording in public places, or even fully ban the smart glasses from being used altogether. That's because the major concerns here aren't just recording. There are also concerns about how easily hackable these internet-connected devices might be, as well as concerns about how much AI is likely to be baked into these devices in the future. There is no doubt that the potential for abuse when wearing smart glasses is high.

However, finding a path forward that can actually provide a solution is going to be key for the Norwegian government. But with so many concerns circling, Norway is probably far from the last to look at bringing some kind of restrictions into play when it comes to these types of devices. We're already seeing some regulation changes in the United States when it comes to tech, thanks to the FCC's ban on foreign-made routers, as well as its approach to managing foreign-made robot vacuums, too.