Travellers who like recording their trips through Meta's camera-equipped smart glasses may soon need to leave them behind at the airport when flying to Oslo. Norway is preparing a temporary ban on AI-powered wearables in a wide range of public places, prompted by fears that the devices let people record and photograph those around them without any visible clue.
Digitalisation minister Torgeir Micaelsen said the government is worried about bystanders being filmed or eavesdropped on without consent. Because smart glasses carry built-in cameras and microphones, capturing footage looks no different from simply looking around — there's no raised phone, no obvious sign that anything is being recorded.
The first phase of the ban targets the most sensitive spots: healthcare facilities and gym changing rooms and showers. But officials are already planning to widen the restrictions considerably, covering parks, beaches, museums, shopping malls, schools, daycare centres, concerts and public events. Use inside private property would still be allowed.
Norway's approach is deliberately provisional — a time-out designed to let regulators study the privacy impact and kick off public debate before permanent laws are written. The concern isn't hypothetical. French child welfare group e-Enfance reported around 20 cases in 2026 in which women and children were secretly recorded in public using camera-equipped AI glasses, mostly Meta models, with the footage then uploaded to social media. European safety warnings on the devices have been piling up.
Why should holidaymakers care? Norway is one of Europe's most visited destinations for fjords, northern lights and city breaks, and tourists are exactly the demographic most likely to be wearing smart specs for hands-free travel photos. If the ban lands as planned, casually filming a walk through Vigeland Park or the Munch Museum with Ray-Ban Meta glasses could become a legal problem rather than a fun travel hack. Enforcement details are still being worked out, but the direction of travel is clear: the era of invisible recording is being challenged, and Norway could set the template for the rest of Europe.
The bigger picture is that governments everywhere are scrambling to set boundaries as wearables get better at logging your surroundings. For now, the practical advice for anyone heading to Norway with smart glasses is simple: check the rules before you go, and be prepared to swap them for an ordinary camera or phone — one that everyone can see you're using.
