Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department plans to introduce regulations on the use of camera-enabled smart glasses, such as Meta Smart Glasses, for filming in public spaces.

The Government has no current plans to introduce specific legislation on the use of smart glasses for filming in public spaces because there are already criminal offences in place to deal with harmful conduct. Individuals who record other people in public places without their consent to cause alarm or distress or for the purposes of sexual gratification may be guilty of offences such as harassment, stalking or voyeurism. Sharing intimate images on the internet without the consent of the individual is also a criminal offence.

Once images captured on smart glasses are uploaded to the internet, online services are obliged to consider requests from individuals under the UK GDPR to remove them. Platforms also have duties to remove illegal material under the Online Safety Act. We do not wish to prevent law-abiding citizens from using the glasses for private or domestic purposes where this does not pose harm to other people. We will continue to monitor this issue.