Australian shoppers may be excited by the idea of cheap Meta Ray-Ban-style smart glasses, with Kmart stores selling out of the $89, Anko-branded devices.
But bargains aside, Electronic Frontiers Australia boss John Pane believes flooding the market with “cheap, covert recording devices” could enable a raft of harms, from voyeurism and harassment to stalking and intimidation.
"Comparing a wearable camera disguised as everyday eyewear to a smartphone is completely false and manipulative," John Pane, Chair of Electronic Frontiers Australia, said in an August 4 statement refuting the manufacturer’s claims that they’re not unlike smartphones.
"To take a photo or record video on a smartphone, a person must perform an overt physical gesture – holding up a screen in front of their face. This physical action provides clear, unambiguous notice to everyone around them, allowing bystanders to grant or withhold consent, object, or walk away."
Smart glasses, however, are more discreet, effectively “stripping away” the behavioural marker that someone is being filmed.
"They are covert, passive, hands-free, and specifically engineered to blend seamlessly into standard fashion frames,” Pane said.
“They are inherently unethical, highly intrusive, and in many practical applications, potentially unlawful under existing surveillance and other related legislation."
Pane and EFA are concerned that the low cost of the devices will lower the barrier to predatory behaviour, with “severe” consequences for all Australians.
The glasses look relatively normal, meaning that they can be worn – and used – in changing rooms and restrooms, or the filming of individuals in recreational areas such as pools and beaches.
Beyond those immediate harms, the EFA is concerned the glasses will lead to broader, more systemic harms. The devices could potentially be paired with image recognition models and smartphone applications to identify people in real time, potentially leading to doxxing and other harms.
Further, the capture software automatically uploads captured images to the cloud, potentially exposing any recorded images to third-party data breaches and misuse by law enforcement.
However, it’s Wesfarmers’ – which owns Kmart – response to concerns over the smartglasses that drew particular attention from the EFA.
“EFA points to a glaring disconnect between Wesfarmers’ corporate governance claims regarding consumer trust involving the privacy of customers and other parties. It seems this trust ends with the concept of data privacy. Wesfarmers seems unbothered selling products that will most definitely be used, at scale, to infringe on a person's privacy in both private and public spaces,” EFA said.
“It appears Wesfarmers may be more concerned with profiting from the sale of wearable budget covert surveillance hardware than how these products will be misused or abused and how they might impact vulnerable groups.”
According to the EFA, misuse of these smartglasses will not be a fringe issue, but rather a significant risk to individual privacy. For that reason, EFA is calling for a general recall of the smartglasses and an immediate regulatory ban.
"We must draw a hard line in the sand and we need to do it now," Pane said.
"Australians have a right to walk down the street, go for a swim, or use a change room without being secretly filmed for someone else's titillation, algorithms, or profit. These devices must be banned pending a suitably strong regulatory solution."
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