Norway moves to temporarily ban AI glasses in parks, schools, and beaches

Norway's center-left government will introduce legislation to temporarily ban AI glasses, the wearable cameras with always-on or easily-activated recording, in parks, beaches, schools, and kindergartens. The bill would also create an expert group to draft permanent national rules, Digitalization Minister Torgeir Micaelsen said Monday. The proposal, the first from a major country, is a time-bounded pause to design durable public-space rules, not a verdict on the category.

The move sits inside an existing pattern. Oslo schools have restricted the devices, and Equinor, Norway's largest company, has banned smart glasses from its offices and offshore facilities. Datatilsynet, Norway's data protection authority, has backed stronger rules. Its director, Line Coll, said in Norwegian that "det offentlige rom blir mindre fritt" (the public space is becoming less free), and that privacy and freedom of expression are undermined when bystanders can be filmed without consent. Micaelsen: "I am concerned about the introduction of powerful new technology where people risk being photographed, filmed, or recorded without their knowledge."

The regulatory direction is not uniform. Meta has two weeks to change the design and default settings of its camera glasses or face a lawsuit. California Governor Gavin Newsom last month vetoed legislation that would have penalized smart-glasses recording in changing rooms and doctors' offices, citing existing unlawful-recording laws. Meta says every pair ships with a bright front light that blinks while recording, cannot be disabled, and turns off if tampered with.

Norway's government has not said how long the temporary ban would last. The expert group reports before permanent national rules are written.