South Africa’s Information Regulator met Meta Platforms in September, when the company demonstrated its camera-equipped smart glasses to the privacy watchdog.
“We did meet with Meta last month, where they were demonstrating the camera-recording smart glasses,” the regulator told TechCentral.
The meeting took place in the same month that Meta and eyewear partner EssilorLuxottica named South Africa among the markets where Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta glasses will go on sale officially.
The regulator said it could not disclose details of the meeting. TechCentral has asked Meta who attended and what was discussed; it had not responded by the time of publication.
The regulator stressed that the meeting was not a stamp of approval. It does “not endorse, approve, certify or authorise commercial products or services”, and “any interaction with or awareness of a particular product or technology should not be seen as an endorsement”, it said in written responses to questions from TechCentral.
The regulator did say the Protection of Personal Information Act (Popia) could apply to what the glasses capture. “Processing” under the act is “deliberately broad” and includes collection, recording, storage, use, retrieval and dissemination.
“A recording made through smart glasses can therefore potentially involve the processing of personal information where people are identifiable in the footage or audio,” it said. Such processing would have to comply with Popia’s eight conditions for lawful processing.
Popia applies
There is, however, “no single law that would regulate such a product”. Several existing laws “may potentially be relevant”, including Popia, and “South African law already deals with privacy, surveillance, interception and unauthorised processing”, it said.
Asked whether those laws are enough to police the glasses in public spaces, given that wearers could conceal their use, the regulator was non-committal. “The existing legal framework may be capable of addressing a range of harmful conduct involving recording devices,” it said, adding that Popia applies where identifiable people’s personal information is processed.
Its response did not address a gap TechCentral highlighted in July: Popia does not apply to processing “in the course of a purely personal or household activity”, which could cover much everyday use of the devices. The regulator said it “supports responsible innovation that respects and promotes the fundamental right to privacy and the protection of personal information”.
Other governments are moving faster. On Monday, Norway’s government said it would propose a temporary ban on AI glasses in selected places, such as schools, kindergartens, playgrounds, healthcare facilities, gyms with changing rooms and showers, parks, beaches, museums, shopping centres, and public events. The Norwegian parliament still has to pass it, and an expert group will advise on permanent rules.
“I am concerned about the introduction of powerful new technology where people risk being photographed, filmed or recorded without their knowledge,” digitalisation minister Torgeir Micaelsen said.
In Germany, the conference of federal and state data protection authorities said in September that wearers are responsible for their recordings and that an indicator LED is not enough to inform the people being filmed. The Dutch data protection authority has said that filming others with camera glasses is “almost always” prohibited.
Closer to home, Kenya’s Office of the Data Protection Commissioner opened an investigation in March after Swedish newspapers Svenska Dagbladet and Göteborgs-Posten reported that workers at Meta subcontractor Sama in Nairobi had reviewed intimate footage captured by the glasses. Meta ended the Sama work in April.
In the UK, Paul Arnold, CEO of what was then the Information Commissioner’s Office, wrote last month that he was “shocked and appalled by some of the irresponsible and harmful ways people are using these technologies”. – © 2026 NewsCentral Media
