One of the largest Dutch eyewear retail chains has suspended sales of Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses in the Netherlands and Belgium amid growing privacy concerns, in one of the first such moves by a retailer.
“This decision follows the ongoing public and political debate surrounding smart glasses and the questions being raised about the conditions under which this technology can be used,” a spokesperson for the Hans Anders chain said on Friday.
A growing Dutch outcry over the glasses mirrors a broader backlash against smart glasses equipped with cameras.
In Britain, pub chain Wetherspoons has restricted use of Meta’s glasses over concerns about covert recording, while Meta and Luxottica face a US suit alleging videos captured by the glasses were viewed by human annotators without the knowledge of people filmed.
A Meta spokesperson said the company is continuing to develop the popular glasses.
“Every pair with a camera has a bright light on the front that blinks when you take a photo or video – it can’t be turned off, and the camera is disabled if someone covers or tampers with it,” they said.
In the Netherlands, privacy regulator AP last month warned that videos made with smart glasses showing identifiable people cannot generally be shared or published without their permission, which would be difficult to obtain in a public place.
Consumer rights group Consumentenbond this week said it would take Meta to court unless the company changes the glasses to comply with privacy law.
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