Fears smart glasses could lead to secret surveillance of kids, women as Kmart version hits market
Australia’s Federal Government has ordered an investigation into the privacy risks posed by smart glasses as increasingly affordable models make discreet photography, video and audio recording widely accessible. The issue gained attention after Kmart’s A$89 smart glasses sold out nationally. They join more expensive Meta smart glasses already on the market, while Google and Apple are also preparing products.
Privacy advocates argue that smart glasses differ significantly from smartphones because people may not realise when they are being recorded. Australia’s Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind warned that widespread adoption could fundamentally change interactions in both public and private spaces, creating situations where individuals can be photographed or recorded without their knowledge.
Attorney General Michelle Rowland has asked the Privacy Commissioner to investigate whether Australia’s existing privacy legislation is adequate. One important limitation is that the Privacy Act primarily regulates businesses and government organisations rather than individuals recording other people. However, technology companies receiving and storing personal information collected through smart glasses may still have obligations under privacy legislation.
Digital Rights Watch has described the technology as effectively enabling covert surveillance, with women and children considered particularly vulnerable. Policy head Tom Sulston warned that camera equipped glasses are already being used to secretly record women in public, including material that can subsequently be distributed on social media or used to create nonconsensual sexual deepfakes.
Another concern involves the recording indicators built into smart glasses. Sulston argued that these indicators can sometimes be easily covered or disabled, making it even more difficult for people nearby to know that recording is taking place. Unlike someone visibly holding up a smartphone, smart glasses can remove many of the social signals that normally allow someone to recognise recording and object to it.
Monash University researcher Fareed Kaviani highlighted a divide between users and nonusers. Owners generally see smart glasses as useful and fashionable, while people who do not own them show substantially greater concern about privacy, inappropriate recording and potential exploitation. He identified consent as the central problem because wearable cameras can make recording faster, more continuous and less noticeable.
Experts are therefore calling for clear regulations before smart glasses become deeply integrated into everyday life. The broader concern is that falling prices could transform wearable cameras from relatively niche technology into commonplace devices, making covert recording increasingly difficult to detect and challenging existing concepts of consent and privacy.
