The proposed legislation aimed to prevent the use of wearable devices for covert recordings in private business areas.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has rejected a bill aimed at banning the use of smart glasses for secretly recording individuals in certain private spaces. These spaces would have included changing facilities and medical offices.
The proposed legislation, known as SB-1130, also sought to mandate that wearable manufacturers include a visual or auditory signal when their devices are capturing audio or video. Many current devices already implement such features. Additionally, the bill would have prohibited the sale of products that obscure such recording indicators.
Governor Newsom highlighted that the bill would classify the operation of a wearable recording device in private business locations as a misdemeanor. He expressed concerns in a letter to the State Senate regarding the bill’s broad terminology. “The definition of ‘wearable recording device’ could inadvertently encompass common smartwatches and similar items used in public, which could result in confusion and unforeseen ramifications,” he noted.
California law currently prohibits electronic devices from being used to record individuals in places where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy. The state also has a two-party consent law, which mandates that both parties in a conversation consent to recording. However, clearer legal definitions could have potentially helped to discourage privacy violations associated with smart glasses, which some critics derogatorily call “pervert glasses.”
The tech advocacy group TechNet opposed the proposed law. Had it been enacted, violators caught secretly recording others could have faced fines up to $1,500 and/or imprisonment. Manufacturers failing to provide a recording indicator or selling devices that concealed such indicators could have been fined up to $2,500 for each offense.
