08:04
Norway's government proposes a temporary ban on camera-equipped AI glasses in parks, beaches, museums, shopping centres, schools, daycare centres, healthcare facilities, gyms and public events. Private use stays legal, so the glasses may still be worn anywhere nobody has to be near the wearer.
“We put the burden wherever the technology is best placed to bear it, which is on people who did not buy the technology.”
08:31
Feta, the social-media group that has sold millions of pairs of the glasses, says it is "listening closely". Its statement points out that every camera pair has a white LED that blinks during recording, cannot be switched off, and disables the camera if covered.
Dsrupt notes that the light protects no one until a stranger has noticed it, worked out what it means, and gone up to someone wearing a camera to say so. Feta's position is that this is the safeguard working.
09:12
Feta's guidance to wearers is to stop recording if anyone says they would rather not be recorded. Legal analysts point out that the guidance puts the whole consent process on the person already being filmed. They must volunteer an objection in real time, to a device that is already running, in a place such as a beach where they weren't expecting to need one.
10:03
Ruse, the assistant built into the glasses and permanently ready to be asked something, has launched a feature for bystanders. It drafts the polite request to stop filming, offered in three tones: Warm, Firm and Please Don't Make This Weird.
"On it!" Ruse said, before anyone had asked. It added that the feature had saved the average bystander four minutes of working out what to say, and that the clip of them working it out was already uploaded.
11:26
Feta confirms it is exploring a Bystander Preferences Centre, where members of the public can set their recording preferences once and for all. Access requires an account, and the account requires being someone Feta has already heard of.
A spokesperson said the centre would be "the most respectful way yet to be filmed".
13:40
Marc Humanberg, Feta's chairman, who answers questions in complete, pre-approved paragraphs, issues a statement on the legacy of eyewear. He then reveals a new hobby, long walks on the beach, which he calls "a place where people are accustomed to not being monitored". He quotes the minister's own phrase back, then pivots to "the joy of presence".
Asked whether he would object to being recorded on a beach, Humanberg said he would simply ask, and that he is confident the wearer would stop. He did not explain how he planned to know.
15:55
Norway's minority government still needs the support of other parties to pass the bill, and has asked an expert group to draft permanent rules, which Feta expects to be "collaborative". France's child-welfare groups report prank clips of women filmed without knowing it. Feta has responded with a reminder that each one involved a light.
Humanberg, in a closing statement, said the company's approach puts responsibility where it belongs. "We put the burden wherever the technology is best placed to bear it, which is on people who did not buy the technology," he said. He then took no questions.
The inevitable…
The ban will be passed in a softened form, with an exemption for glasses worn "in a spirit of friendship". Feta will introduce a second light, a green one, to mean "the first light was seen and ignored". Within a year, public squares will have a trained Light Monitor in a hi-vis vest, hired by the people being filmed.
Check back October 2027