Smart Glasses in Pennsylvania May Soon Legally Require a Visible Recording Light

Lawmakers in Pennsylvania are pushing for legislation that would require devices like smart glasses to visually indicate when they’re recording.

Joe Ciresi, a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and majority chair of the House Communications and Technology Committee, introduced a bill (known as House Bill 2603) that would require smart glasses manufactured, sold, and used in Pennsylvania to have a visual indicator when the device is recording audio or video.

According to a report by local news outlet abc27 News, Ciresi describes the bill’s provisions as “common-sense privacy safeguards for smart glasses to help protect Pennsylvanians from potential misuse of this emerging technology.”

There is currently no nationwide law in the U.S. requiring smart glasses to display a light or other indicator while recording. The proposed measure would affect only recording devices used in Pennsylvania.

House Bill 2603 would also require retailers to clearly inform users of Pennsylvania’s existing recording laws and to prevent users from disabling any visual indicator that shows the device is recording.

“Smart glasses are an innovative technological advancement, but their design also allows them to easily record or stream without anyone noticing,” Ciresi says. “Considering the implications this has for individual privacy and surveillance, we must take thoughtful, proactive steps to address those risks.”

Smart glasses have one obvious privacy concern: people can record others clandestinely. Most smart glasses currently on the market — including Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses — have indicator lights designed to show people nearby when a user is recording video or taking photos. However, there is currently no U.S.-wide requirement for manufacturers to include such features in devices. This newly introduced bill in Pennsylvania could change that by requiring smart glasses sold or used in the state to clearly show when audio or video recording is taking place.

Nonetheless, although Ray-Ban smart glasses show a blinking red light when recording, many people who are filmed for social media attention or otherwise say they do not realize they are being recorded.

Meta has also faced controversy over the company’s reported plans to introduce facial recognition technology into its Ray-Ban smart glasses, with a feature internally known as “Name Tag.” The news outlet WIRED discovered dormant code for the facial recognition system in Meta’s companion app for its line of Ray-Ban smart glasses, leading the company to quietly delete the software a day later.

Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.

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