Australia's online safety watchdog has called on technology companies to build automatic face-blurring into smart glasses by default, warning that the wearable cameras are already being used to film people without their knowledge and that the harms are "real and already occurring."
The eSafety Commissioner issued formal advice to industry urging a suite of new protections for the devices — cameras embedded in glasses frames — as concerns grow about their rapid uptake, including through budget retailers. Cheap smart glasses sold at stores such as Kmart have already raised significant privacy alarms among experts.
What the eSafety Commissioner is calling for
At the centre of the watchdog's recommendations is a requirement that faces of people captured on smart glasses footage should be automatically blurred unless those individuals have given explicit consent to being filmed. The commissioner also wants clearer visual indicators showing when the glasses are actively recording, so bystanders have a better chance of knowing they are being captured on camera.
Additional measures recommended include a mandatory delay on livestreaming from the devices and an automatic shutdown of the recording function when the glasses are not being worn.
"Companies selling smart glasses must balance the benefits of the technology with the need to protect users and the public," the commissioner said in the advice. "As smart glasses become more common, they may create new ways to perpetrate harms."
The commissioner stressed that the window to act was now, while the technology is still evolving and safety features can realistically be engineered into products before widespread harm takes hold.
The harms already happening — and who is most at risk
The watchdog's advice was pointed in its identification of who is being hurt. Among the documented concerns was the use of smart glasses by so-called "pick-up artists," who use the devices to covertly film women in public and post the footage online.
"Most of the women do not realise they are being filmed. These posts often attract misogynistic comments, compounding the harm," the commissioner said. "Used in this way, smart glasses can reinforce and normalise watching, recording and controlling women in public without their knowledge."
More broadly, the advice warned that the technology could become a vehicle for image-based abuse, cyberbullying of children, adult cyber abuse, and the livestreaming of violent or harmful content — harms the commissioner described as interconnected and growing.
"The harms linked to covert recording are not hypothetical. They are real and already occurring," the advice stated.
Government and parliament move on broader privacy overhaul
The eSafety Commissioner's push on smart glasses sits within a broader federal government effort to modernise Australia's privacy protections in the face of rapid technological change.
Attorney-General Michelle Rowland wrote to the privacy commission earlier this month requesting an investigation into whether additional regulations for smart glasses were warranted. She is also set to announce sweeping changes to privacy laws that include a right to erasure — a mechanism that would allow Australians to request that social media platforms and large digital companies delete their personal information.
"The right to erasure will help put more control in the hands of Australians, allowing personal information to be destroyed from large digital platforms," Rowland said. "We must ensure appropriate safeguards are placed around technology and stop the erosion of our privacy protections."
The draft laws are understood to exempt media organisations publishing news content. The government is also set to introduce a service called IDLock, which would provide extra protections for identity documents shared online.
Greens push for importation ban
The Australian Greens have taken a harder line, calling for a 12-month ban on the importation of smart glasses while safeguards are developed. Under legislation the minor party intends to bring before parliament, filming, storing or sharing footage captured through smart glasses without the subject's consent would constitute a breach of privacy laws.
The push reflects growing cross-party recognition that existing law has not kept pace with the capabilities now available in consumer devices sitting on the shelf at mainstream retailers.
The eSafety Commissioner's message to the industry was direct: the technology is not inherently harmful, but it demands responsibility. "They may become increasingly interconnected with and create new ways to perpetrate different types of harms," the advice warned, urging companies to treat privacy and safety as design priorities rather than afterthoughts.
With the Attorney-General's formal privacy reform announcement expected imminently, and parliament likely to consider the Greens' importation ban proposal, the debate over how Australia regulates wearable cameras is set to intensify significantly in coming weeks.
