Meta glasses court ban sparks privacy warning for City businesses
Meta’s controversial smart glasses have been banned from courthouses across England, prompting lawyers to sound the alarm for businesses about growing legal risks surrounding the wearable tech.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) had confirmed that camera glasses were banned from its sites across England and Wales. The courts already had a strict policy on filming and recording inside courts and tribunals.
This move followed pub chain Wetherspoon, which took similar action to ban “creepy spy glasses” from more than 800 of its premises.
There were growing concerns over Meta’s glasses, with the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) intervening earlier this year following reports that outsourced contractors in Kenya had viewed intimate footage captured by users wearing Meta’s AI smart glasses.
EssilorLuxottica, the maker of Ray-Ban, said it had sold over 7 million AI glasses last year after teaming up with Meta in 2020. Last year, Meta and Oakley announced their partnership, with its smart glasses model releasing to the market last October.
Legal risks rise
With popularity growing but safety concerns rising, employment lawyers stressed that businesses needed to review their workplace policies as discreet smart glasses created fresh legal risks around data protection.
Oliver Milton, solicitor at TWM, said: “Employers are going to have to think carefully about the use of smart glasses in the workplace, especially as sensitive or embarrassing material can be uploaded to social media almost instantly.”
Oliver added: “Employees also need to be aware that misusing smart glasses holds risks for them and could lead to disciplinary action, including dismissal in serious cases,” he added.
He explained businesses needed to get a handle on how to deal with privacy and workplace culture when, at the same time, smart glasses could be seen as a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act 2010.
“Wearable technology is evolving rapidly and workplace policies need to evolve with it. Employers who review their policies now are far more likely to avoid disputes later,” Milton added.
Last month, Meta opened a new £12m audio research lab in Cambridge, which aimed to improve the sound capabilities of its AR and AI glasses.