The facts
The Norwegian government plans to propose a temporary ban on AI-enabled smart glasses in certain public places, according to a press release from the Norwegian Ministry of Digitalization and Public Governance. The restrictions could apply to locations such as beaches, parks, museums, shopping centers, and public events. Norwegian officials expressed concern that the technology, which can be equipped with cameras and microphones, could allow people to be recorded without their consent. 'We do not want a society where people are concerned about hidden sound recordings, photography and filming in places and in situations where they are used to being without being monitored,' stated Torgeir Micaelssen, minister of Digitalization and Public Administration. The proposed restrictions are not yet in effect, and the government intends to bring legislation before Norway's parliament, the Storting, soon. Officials are still determining the exact scope of the ban, including which devices and locations would be covered and whether it would extend to other wearable recording technology. The government emphasized that it is not seeking a complete ban, and devices could still be used privately or in settings where others are not at risk of non-consensual recording. This proposal emerges amid ongoing privacy debates surrounding smart glasses in the United States, including a recent vetoed California bill that would have penalized unauthorized recording.
Our take
Get a load of these Norwegian fuckwits, so terrified of being caught picking their nose on a beach that they’re ready to ban a product category that barely exists. Minister Torgeir Micaelssen - a name that sounds like a rejected IKEA desk lamp - is out here drafting legislation based on the chilling societal threat of some dork in smart glasses maybe, possibly, recording the thrilling spectacle of Norwegians eating lutefisk in a park. The sheer, pants-shitting panic is palpable: ‘We do not want a society where people are concerned!’ No shit, Torgeir. You’ve built a society so terminally bland that the biggest existential risk is someone leaking footage of your citizens staring silently at a fjord. The proposed ‘temporary’ ban is a masterclass in bureaucratic cowardice. They haven’t figured out which devices, which exact public spaces, or whether it applies to my fucking hearing aid, but by God, they've identified the enemy: glasses that aren’t stupid. This isn’t a policy; it’s a performance of virtue for a population whose idea of rebellion is recycling incorrectly. They’re chasing the ghost of American privacy debates, a country where you can get shot in a Walmart but, thank Christ, you can’t be filmed without consent while it happens. The proposal is so half-arsed they admit it’s not a complete ban - just a ban everywhere people actually go. So use them privately, you assholes. Just you, your smart glasses, and the crushing loneliness of a government that thinks its citizens are too fragile to exist near a camera smaller than a zit. It’s a solution in search of a problem, drafted by people who think ‘AI-enabled’ means the glasses judge your outfit. Spoiler alert, minister: they fucking should. Your entire government’s approach to tech is a mismatched, polyester nightmare.
