Smart glasses make secret filming easier. What does NZ law actually protect you from?
Cheap camera glasses make covert filming easier than ever. But NZ law may leave gaps when the resulting footage is sexualised or shared online.
Smart glasses, such as Meta's Ray-Ban and Oakley ranges, can capture photos and video covertly without the knowledge of those being recorded. These devices are becoming more accessible, with Anko's Camera Glasses now available at Kmart for only $99. While smart glasses can assist visually impaired individuals by reading signs and communicating visual information through audio, they also pose a significant risk for covert recording.
The misuse of smart glasses for covert filming has already been seen in other countries, where women have been secretly recorded and turned into social media content. In New Zealand, existing laws may offer limited protection, particularly when it comes to filming in public spaces. This is concerning as it disproportionately affects women and girls, who are more likely to be victims of gendered harm.
The Crimes Act 1961 covers sexualised abuse when nudity, intimate areas, sexual activity, or personal bodily activity is recorded in private spaces. However, covert filming a clothed woman in public may not fall under these definitions. The Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015 criminalises posting intimate recordings without consent, but requires proof of intent to cause harm and serious emotional distress. New Zealand’s new stalking offence may help in some cases, but may not cover a single incident.
The Privacy Act 2020 provides another possible avenue, but individuals collecting information for personal purposes receive broad exemptions. While smart glasses developers have acknowledged the potential for misuse through safeguards, such as recording lights and disabling cameras when tampered with, more could be done.
Regulation could distinguish between uses, ensuring that accessibility-focused smart glasses do not necessarily store or share captured images. This approach treats accessibility, privacy, and safety as design requirements from the outset, rather than treating them as separate considerations.
Written by urgent.news from The Conversation AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
