BIG TECH IS SELLING SECRET SURVEILLANCE AS A FASHION ACCESSORY.
Meta's camera-glasses (and the Kmart and Temu knock-offs) let anyone secretly film you, your kids, or a stranger in a change room, with no warning and no consent.
Our privacy laws were written decades before this technology ever existed, and big tech is exploiting the gap.
It's time to ban the import of pervert glasses and force privacy laws to catch up.
A third of Australians already want these devices banned outright. A Monash University study found a disturbing number of owners admit to secretly filming people, including in change rooms, beaches and workplaces. Schools have already banned them from classrooms over deepfake and livestreaming risks.
So far the only action from the Albanese Government has been the Attorney General writing a letter to the Privacy Commissioner stating her concerns. That was about as useful as an inflatable dartboard when it comes to protecting people’s privacy.
It’s time Parliament caught up with the community here and passed laws to protect people not profits.
And still, there is no law stopping big tech from selling covert surveillance devices to anyone who wants one.
Australia's Privacy Act covers how organisations handle your data, but it says nothing about a stranger secretly filming you in public. Currently there is no federal right to privacy in public at all. Meta has one pretend “safeguard”, a small recording light, and most competitors don't even have that.
These are pervert glasses, built for covert surveillance, and Australians deserve better than a shrug from Parliament.
We call on the Government to:
- Ban the import of ‘pervert glasses’ and other covert camera-enabled wearable devices until our privacy laws catch up, with an exemption only for genuine disability aids
- Update the Privacy Act so filming, storing or sharing footage from these devices without consent is a clear breach of the law
- Give the Information Commissioner and eSafety Commissioner real power to investigate complaints and penalise non-compliant collection or disclosure using covert wearables
- Protect the right to film in public using devices that are clearly recognisable as recording devices like mobile phones and cameras
Big tech won't police itself. Will you stand with us?