Smart glasses are popping up everywhere these days, with their designs becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish from ordinary eyewear. They can take photographs, record video and audio, access information using AI and, in some cases, livestream directly to social media.
In recent news this week, Australia is considering the legal implications of these glasses in the workplace. Check out the article here for more information.
In September, the Federal Government asked the Australian Public Service Commission to consider whether camera-equipped smart glasses should be prohibited in Commonwealth workplaces, citing privacy and security concerns. The Government has also asked the Privacy Commissioner to give the technology priority consideration.
The proposal does not amount to a general ban on smart glasses across Australian workplaces, however, it does reflect the age we live in where existing laws, workplace rules and rapidly developing AI-enabled technology tends to outpace the former.
For businesses, these are the commercial questions to consider:
Workplace Privacy
Privacy is perhaps the most obvious concern.
Unlike a smartphone, smart glasses can record from the user’s point of view without requiring them to visibly hold up a camera. That can make it difficult for people nearby to know when they are being recorded.
The eSafety Commissioner has highlighted concerns including covert recording, image-based abuse, harassment and the circulation of recordings online. Recent research from the University of Sydney has also examined the use of smart glasses to record women without their knowledge and subsequently publish the footage online.
But privacy is only part of the legal picture.
In a workplace, a camera worn by an employee could potentially capture far more than people. It could record computer screens, customer information, confidential documents, meetings, whiteboards, prototypes, conversations or commercially sensitive material.
So now it’s not just potential issues of privacy, but intellectual property, confidentiality and secure information.
Copyright Issues
One of the more unusual developments surrounding smart glasses involves copyright.
As reports of people being covertly filmed have increased, some women have reportedly begun playing copyrighted music, including Disney songs, when they believe someone wearing camera glasses is recording them.
The theory is relatively simple: if copyrighted music is captured by the glasses’ microphone and subsequently included in a social media upload, automated copyright systems may detect the music and restrict the content.
It is an unusual example of copyright law being used as a practical response to a privacy problem.
However, it is not a foolproof solution.
Platforms such as Instagram and YouTube use automated systems to identify copyrighted music, but a copyright match may result in the audio being muted or restricted rather than the entire video being removed. It also does nothing to prevent footage being stored privately, shared directly or livestreamed before any automated copyright process can intervene.
The tactic nevertheless illustrates something important for businesses when it comes to copyright.
A video recorded in a workplace could inadvertently capture music playing in the background, artwork, software interfaces, marketing material, product designs or other copyright-protected works.
In Australia, copyright generally protects original works automatically, subject to the exceptions and statutory licences contained in the Copyright Act 1968. Using someone else’s copyright material without permission can create infringement issues depending on what has been captured and how it is subsequently used.
What does this mean for employers?
For businesses considering AI-enabled wearables, do you have clear rules governing what the technology can record? Where it can be used? What happens to the information afterwards and who has access to it?
For example, employers may need to consider:
- whether smart glasses can be used in meetings or around confidential information;
- whether employees can record customers, clients or colleagues;
- whether recording is permitted in areas containing commercially sensitive material;
- how recordings are stored, accessed and deleted;
- whether recordings could capture confidential information belonging to another business;
- whether employees need to disclose when recording is taking place;
- whether existing employment, privacy, surveillance or confidentiality policies cover the technology; and
- what happens if a recording inadvertently captures copyright or other protected material.
There is currently no single Australian law specifically governing every use of AI-powered smart glasses in the workplace. Instead, existing legal frameworks may apply depending on how the technology is being used.
New Technology, Familiar Legal Problems
Smart glasses may feel like a new legal problem, but many of the underlying issues are not new.
Businesses have long needed to protect confidential information, intellectual property, personal information and commercially sensitive material. What AI-enabled wearables change is the ease with which information can be captured.
A smartphone requires someone to take it out, point it at something and press record. Smart glasses can make recording far less conspicuous and potentially make the resulting information easier to process, search and share.
As AI-enabled devices become increasingly integrated into everyday work, businesses may need to look beyond traditional IT policies and consider how emerging technology interacts with the legal rights and obligations they already have.
