New York's Smartglasses Ban Sets A Dangerous Precedent

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Starting July 20, New York state will ban Meta Ray-Bans and other smartglasses from all 1,240 state courts. New York currently prohibits filming, audio recording, broadcasting, and telecasting throughout courthouse facilities, but does not ban smartphones in the courtroom. Despite the fact that many smartglasses have lights that let people know when they are being recorded, and Meta taking an extra step to disable glasses that have been tampered with, the state argued that the lights are too small to be easily noticed.

At first glance, this makes sense, but it also sets a dangerous precedent by assuming ill intent from anyone wearing smartglasses. A blanket ban on any device that could potentially record audio or video would at least be consistent, but even though there are rules prohibiting recording on a phone in the courtroom, in reality it is very simple to open the recording app, tuck your phone in your handbag or pocket, and capture audio without anyone knowing. As all-day recording AI wearables come to market, it will become even harder to enforce any sort of prohibition as well.

The downsides of prohibiting smartglasses extend far beyond people being unable to capture audio and video. Increasing numbers of people are using the glasses to translate other languages or provide closed captioning for conversations, and blanket bans will disproportionately hurt non-native English speakers and people with hearing loss. If someone is providing complicated testimony, having it transcribed and able to read from the glasses could also be beneficial, especially if they are being questioned about matters that are technical or deeply emotional.

Of course, there are genuine safety concerns about courtroom recording, including leaking the identities of jurors, witnesses, and court officers. But there simply aren’t that many examples of that happening in the years since smartphones have been widely available. In 2014, someone smuggled a camera into the Supreme Court and posted video of a protest on YouTube, but that’s basically it in terms of examples of anyone leaking sensitive footage from a courtroom. Additionally, there are strict penalties in place for recording and releasing footage from inside a courtroom, and there is a record of who is in court, so finding the person who leaked the footage and punishing them appropriately wouldn’t be all that hard. Is it really worth risking a fine or jail time just to release some courtroom footage?

There have been lots of concerns from workplaces about smartglasses and leaks, but the question remains: what incentive do people have to leak information in the first place? Inadvertent leaks can and do happen, but that’s been true for years; people post photos on social media and accidentally capture confidential information, or have a few too many drinks and spill the beans about a top-secret project. Smartglasses, careless photography and streaming could accelerate this in the near term, but a few high profile cases of folks being fired will likely lead to people double-checking their recordings. And there is a place for those leaks when they expose corruption or cheating.

The new regulations also seem to be based on negative vibes about smartglasses in general and Meta in particular. Social media posts referring to them as “pervert glasses” have picked up recently, in light of a few male social media influencers using them to harass women. This isn’t OK, of course, but there are existing laws around disseminating non-consensual images that can be invoked to crack down on this behavior.

The pushback is also part of a broader resistance to new technologies, from anger about Waymo to anti-AI angst. When the iPhone was released in 2007, it was a more optimistic time, and that allowed the phones and the app ecosystem to flourish and provide material benefits. All of this will likely shake out in time with wider adoption, and this will just be a frustrating era when people made decisions without all the relevant information.

In the near term, smartglasses companies need to make sure they encourage best practices for recording with consent and shaping a narrative around responsible use. The benefits of the glasses are real, and need to be spelled out to counter vibes-based resistance.

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