Canterbury-Bankstown Council in Sydney voted to ban AI smart glasses at its public pools due to privacy and safety concerns. Mayor Bilal El-Hayek described these devices as “pervert glasses,” citing incidents where women were filmed without consent. The council joins Brisbane and Yarra councils, which have previously banned the technology amid fears of covert filming and threats to child safety in public spaces. Digital Rights Watch’s Tom Sulston praised the bans, calling for stronger privacy laws at both state and federal levels.
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On Tuesday evening, Canterbury-Bankstown, one of Sydney’s largest councils, voted overwhelmingly to ban AI smart glasses at its public pools. The mayor, Bilal El-Hayek, described the technology as “pervert glasses,” citing concerns about privacy and safety. Similar bans have already been enacted by the City of Brisbane and the City of Yarra in Australia. Reports of women being filmed without consent and sensitive information being shared online have fueled these measures. Women’s major concerns include potential misuse by predators in change rooms, swimming pools, and near schools. AI smart glasses, which feature high-resolution cameras and can scan faces for data retrieval, pose significant privacy risks according to El-Hayek.
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One of Sydney’s largest councils has joined the City of Brisbane and the City of Yarra to issue a ban on AI smart glasses at public pools as concerns mount over the potential for predators to exploit the new technology.
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predators → join → technology
On Tuesday evening, Canterbury-Bankstown voted overwhelmingly in favour of banning the tech at its pools, with its mayor, Bilal El-Hayek, describing them as “pervert glasses”.
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mayor → vote → glasses
Since their release, there have been reports of women being filmed without their consent and their interactions with a glasses-wearing influencer posted on social media.
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women → film → media
“Chat groups, Facebook, local community forums and TikTok are just some of the online platforms where women are venting their concerns over the smart technology that threatens both safety and privacy,” El-Hayek told councillors at the meeting.
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Hayek → vent → meeting
“Their biggest concerns are around ‘perverts and paedophiles’ secretly filming in change rooms, swimming pools and around schools.
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perverts → film → schools
“The latest AI smart glasses are wearable devices with high resolution cameras … and AI powered features like real time translation, object recognition and open-ear audio … these glasses can not only film, record and share footage, they can also scan your face and potentially access and retrieve information about you.”
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they → power → you
Last month, Brisbane became the first council in Australia to publicly announce a ban on covert filming at its 21 public pools amid growing fears of threats to child safety.
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Brisbane → become → safety
The head of policy at Digital Rights Watch, Tom Sulston, praised the decision.
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head → praise → decision
He said it was “vital that councils across Australia ensure that public spaces like swimming pools are safe for families to enjoy without the threat of unwanted video surveillance”.
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families → say → surveillance
“We all need to be able to go out in public without fear of being covertly recorded and having the images uploaded to the internet without our consent,” he said.
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he → need → consent
“We look forward to seeing not just councils following Brisbane’s lead, but also state and federal governments.”
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councils → look → lead
Yarra in inner-Melbourne followed suit, voting last week to ban smart glasses from its leisure and aquatic facilities, childcare centres and playgrounds.
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Yarra → follow → facilities
It also confirmed it would call on the federal government to bring in stronger privacy laws to protect people from new technologies.
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it → confirm → technologies
Randwick council in Sydney’s eastern suburbs has also banned the new technology at the Des Renford leisure centre.
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council → ban → centre
In a statement, it said “growing community concerns” about their potential misuse were behind the decision.
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concerns → say → decision
“Signage has been installed at the entrance and anyone wearing smart glasses in the centre will be asked to remove them or leave,” it said.
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it → instal → them
“This precautionary measure will help ensure the centre remains a safe, welcoming and family-friendly place for all visitors.
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centre → help → visitors
The bans will not apply to people with accessibility concerns, including vision impairment.
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bans → apply → impairment
The federal attorney general, Michelle Rowland, has not ruled out banning the glasses but has indicated how complex the laws are governing the new technology.
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laws → rule → technology
In August, she wrote to the privacy commissioner, Carly Kind, raising concerns she’d received from the community about their growing uptake and requesting it be given priority consideration.
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it → write → consideration
“Privacy is an essential part of all our lives; it allows us to be who we are with dignity and without fear,” she said at the time.
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she → allow → time
“Unlike other forms of technology, smart glasses may be used more discreetly, making it harder to know when you are being recorded.
“The government is continuing to work on the next phase of privacy reforms to ensure our privacy laws are fit for purpose in the digital age.”
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laws → use → age
Australia’s online safety regulator has urged smart glasses companies to automatically blur people’s faces filmed on the devices, and make it clearer when someone is filming.
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someone → urge → devices
In advice to industry published at the end of August, the office of the eSafety commissioner warned that while smart glasses with cameras, such as Meta’s Ray-Ban, can offer accessibility benefits to low vision or blind people, companies might pit “accessibility benefits against safety and privacy considerations”, and noted there was already a backlash to the technology.
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companies → publish → technology
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