Hong Kong privacy watchdog issues guidance on AI ‘smart glasses’ to curb covert surveillance

Hong Kong’s privacy watchdog has issued guidelines on using AI-powered “smart glasses” in a “privacy-respecting manner,” in an effort to prevent covert collection of personal data.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data on Tuesday published the “Smart Glasses: Tips on Protecting Personal Data Privacy” guidance note, warning that misuse of the camera-fitted eyewear could pose heightened privacy risks.

“Smart glasses can be used to take photos, record videos or audio discreetly, which may increase the risk of excessive or covert collection of personal data,” Privacy Commissioner Ada Chung said in a statement.

“The photos, videos, audio and other data captured by smart glasses may be analysed and processed by AI systems, giving rise to additional privacy risks,” she added.

The watchdog warned that the use of smart glasses increases the risks of “improper collection” of sensitive personal information in hospitals, clinics, and changing rooms – locations where people reasonably expect a higher degree of privacy.

AI-enabled functions further amplify privacy risks, including excessive collection of personal data, surveillance, and the sharing of data with product and service providers, it said.

The guide lists nine recommendations for users to respect privacy while using the device, such as by carefully reviewing privacy settings to limit the sharing of data with third-party service providers.

It also urged users to avoid using the device or activating recording functions in sensitive locations, and warned against using smart glasses for criminal acts, including the unlawful recording of intimate images or filming in restricted areas.

Big tech companies have been developing AI-powered smart glasses, believing that wearables could one day be customers’ main gateway to interacting with artificial intelligence. Meta, for example, has been selling smart glasses in collaboration with popular eyewear brands Ray-Ban and Oakley.

The eyewear has already sparked widespread privacy concerns abroad over covert surveillance in public spaces. Critics have dubbed the devices “pervert glasses” after videos emerged on social media showing men wearing them to secretly film women.

Earlier this month, the European Data Protection Board, the EU’s privacy watchdog, also called for timely and accessible guidance on data protection issues surrounding the use of smart glasses.

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Hans Tse is a reporter at Hong Kong Free Press with an interest in local politics, academia, and media transformation. He was previously a social science researcher, with writing published in the Social Movement Studies and Social Transformation of Chinese Societies journals. He holds an M.Phil in communication from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Before joining HKFP, he also worked as a freelance reporter for Initium between 2019 and 2021, where he covered the height - and aftermath - of the 2019 protests, as well as the national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020.