Watchdog: Posting unsuspecting people filmed on camera glasses is almost always illegal

Given the rising popularity of AI camera glasses, the Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) reminds that you are not allowed to post pictures or videos where unsuspected members of the public might be visible. The AO also advised organizations to ban the devices from their premises when possible. Unsuspecting people caught in a shot have a right to privacy, AP said, adding that it is also examining any possible future measures.

“People must be able to walk the street freely without fear that someone is secretly filming them and then sharing the footage or putting it on the internet,” Katja Mur, AP’s board member, said in a press release. “People who make recordings on which others are recognizable cannot do whatever they like with those recordings.”

Mur also referenced the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The protection applies to people filmed with AI glasses or similar devices and means that, as soon as a person is recognizable in a shot, it becomes their personal data. “The GDPR exists so that people do not lose control over images and other personal data collected and used,” AP said in a press release. A strict exception exists for private, household use.

Camera glasses often look normal, but a camera and microphone are built into the frame, which are then usually connected to a wearer’s phone. Such a device can be used to take pictures or videos. Manufacturers have created the glasses in a way that people might be able to tell when they are recording by a red light that turns on.

However, special stickers and other coverings can sometimes be bought, the Dutch Consumers' Association recently concluded. It, therefore, called on Meta to ban its AI glasses.