Norway plans to introduce stricter rules for the use of smart glasses and similar devices, including considering a ban on facial recognition features for identifying people in public places. Smart glasses allow users to take photos and record videos, listen to music, make phone calls, translate text in foreign languages, view text and maps within their field of vision, or interact with an integrated artificial intelligence assistant. “We are seeing privacy and people’s personal integrity come under pressure from new technologies. That is why I want us to regulate smart glasses and similar devices more strictly than before,” Digitalisation Minister Karianne Tung said. “This could, for example, mean banning features such as facial recognition of other people in public places,” she added, according to AFP. Tung said she plans to establish an expert group to advise the government on how users can be better protected from new technologies. She also called on the public and private sectors to consider introducing their own rules for their use. “There is a clear trend toward combining artificial intelligence with cameras and microphones built into glasses, headphones, hats and other objects we use in everyday life. We must prevent this equipment from being used to monitor other people in public places,” Tung said. Finn Myrstad, head of digital policy at the Norwegian Consumer Council, welcomed the government’s initiative and called on retailers to stop selling smart glasses until the legal framework has been clarified. According to media reports, Meta has already developed facial recognition technology that could be integrated into its smart glasses. “Meta already has this technology, and it is only a matter of time before it is incorporated into the glasses,” Myrstad said. He warned that banning facial recognition features would not prevent users from secretly recording other people. “The potential for