The Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey’s data protection authorities have joined forces to highlight the potential privacy risks of smart glasses.
Smart glasses are becoming increasingly popular, offering useful hands-free features and allowing wearers to take photographs, record video and capture audio at the tap of a frame. However, their discreet design can make it difficult for people to know when they are being recorded.
In a Joint Advisory, the three authorities warn that these devices can capture people, conversations and personal information without their knowledge. Unlike a smartphone or traditional camera, there may be little to indicate that a recording is taking place. Recordings may also be stored or processed by the manufacturer, including through cloud services, meaning information captured through the glasses could be handled beyond our shores. The technology is also increasingly being used in a range of settings, including workplaces and businesses. Organisations considering using smart glasses should think carefully about how they will be used, what information may be captured and how that information will be handled.
Brent Homan, Data Protection Commissioner, Bailiwick of Guernsey said: “Public spaces do not erase privacy rights. While smart glasses can empower individuals to navigate their lives, especially those with disabilities, they can and must be used in a manner that respects the dignity and rights of others.”
Isle of Man Information Commissioner Dr Alexandra Delaney-Bhattacharya said: “Smart glasses can be a real help and for people with disabilities especially, they open up the world in ways older technology never could. But the same features that make them useful also make them easy to misuse. We know from experience that women and girls are disproportionately the ones filmed without consent, whether by a stranger on the street or someone at a party. It takes only a glance to record someone, and that footage can end up anywhere including with a company beyond our shores. Our message is simple: think before you share, and ask yourself how you’d feel, or how a woman in your life would feel, if it were her in that footage.”
Paul Vane, Information Commissioner for Jersey, said: “With any technology, there are benefits and risks. In the case of smart glasses such as those described, there are clear advantages in their use. However, there are also considerable privacy risks of which the general public and users of these glasses need to be fully aware. As with any recording device, whether that be CCTV, dashcam, helmet cam, video doorbell, or even a mobile phone, the user is expected to act responsibly and consider the privacy impacts of its use on other people. Equally, those affected must also feel able to exercise their statutory rights under data protection laws and feel empowered to challenge users who have not been transparent about the use of the technology.”
