Norway plans a temporary ban on AI glasses in parks, beaches, schools and gyms

Norway wants to put the brakes on AI glasses. On Monday, 5 October 2026, the Norwegian government announced that it will propose a temporary ban on using AI glasses in selected places, from parks and beaches to schools, playgrounds, doctors' offices and gyms with changing rooms. At the same time it will set up an expert group that is supposed to advise on permanent national rules for body worn technology.

According to Ars Technica, which republished a Financial Times report, that makes Norway the first major country to propose this kind of temporary ban. It is a notable moment for a product category that Meta, Google and OpenAI see as one of the next big ways to use AI in daily life.

What the government announced

The announcement came as a press release from the Ministry of Digitalisation and Public Governance. The minister in charge is Torgeir Micaelsen from the Labour Party, who according to the Norwegian news agency NTB had been in the job for only about four weeks.

His reasoning is simple and focused on bystanders, not on the people who wear the glasses. "I am worried that new, powerful technology is being introduced where people risk being photographed, filmed or audio-recorded without knowing it," Micaelsen said, in the translation used by Reuters. A temporary ban, he added, would give the government time to carry out a thorough assessment and hold an informed debate that can lay the foundation for permanent regulation.

He also described the kind of society he wants to avoid. In the English wording quoted by the Financial Times: "We do not want a society where people are concerned about hidden audio recordings, photography, and filming in places and situations where they are used to being without being monitored. Such a society can be experienced as unsafe and cause us to withdraw."

The government calls the work "high priority" and says it will come back to the Storting, Norway's parliament, with a bill "as soon as possible". No date for that bill has been published yet. Reuters notes that the Labour government is a minority government, so it will need support from other parties in parliament to pass the law.

Where the ban could apply

The press release does not contain a final list yet. Instead it names examples of the kinds of places the government has in mind, grouped into three areas.

The first group is places where the public regularly comes together. The government mentions parks, beaches, museums, shopping centres and amusement parks, as well as sports, music and cultural events.

The second group is about children, who according to the ministry have a right to special protection. Here the examples are schools, kindergartens, playgrounds, youth clubs and other places and events where many children spend time. The government also says it will consider whether universities, colleges and other places of higher education should be included.

The third group is places where privacy is especially important: health institutions including doctors' offices, swimming pools, gyms and other places with changing rooms and showers.

That last group explains a lot about the mood around this technology. As the Financial Times report points out, governments around the world are struggling with AI glasses because of worries that they are used to film people without consent, including children and women in places such as changing rooms.

What is not banned

It is important to read the proposal precisely, because the headline word "ban" can sound bigger than it is.

• There will be no total ban. The government says explicitly that it does not want to forbid AI glasses or other body worn technology altogether.
• Private use stays allowed. The same goes for use in places where you do not risk filming or photographing other people without their consent.
• There will be exceptions. The ministry says vulnerable groups can be exempted, and that limited uses that benefit society should remain possible.

The exception for vulnerable groups is worth noting. Smart glasses with cameras and AI assistants are also used by people with visual impairments, for example to have text or surroundings described to them. The press release does not name specific groups, but it clearly leaves room for that kind of use.

Which devices would count

Another open question is what an "AI glass" actually is in legal terms. The government says it still has to study which technology the ban should cover, and it lists three possible approaches.

The ban could apply to glasses with a camera and audio recording, to glasses with a camera and AI functions, or also to other body worn technology with a camera, audio recording or AI. The choice matters a lot. A narrow definition would mainly hit products like the Ray-Ban Meta glasses. A wide definition could reach clip on cameras, AI pins and pendants that record conversations, and future devices that do not look like glasses at all.

That is probably also why the government wants an expert group. Writing a rule that is precise enough for courts and police, but does not become outdated with the next product generation, is genuinely hard.

Norway was already moving in this direction

The government is not starting from zero. According to the Financial Times, parts of Norwegian society had already introduced their own bans. Schools in Oslo have banned the glasses, and Equinor, the country's biggest company, has banned them from its offices and offshore facilities.

There is also a political shift. NTB reports that Micaelsen's predecessor as digitalisation minister, Karianne Tung from the same party, did not want to ban AI glasses. Micaelsen took a different view only weeks after taking over the ministry.

Norway is also not alone in thinking about this. The Financial Times writes that Australia is considering a ban on smart glasses in certain public spaces, and that courtrooms in several countries have already banned wearable technology as it becomes more common.

What happens next

The process now runs on two tracks. One is the temporary ban, which first has to be written as a bill, sent to parliament and approved before it applies anywhere. The other is the expert group, which is meant to study the challenges of body worn technology more thoroughly and advise on lasting rules. NTB reports that the work to set up that group has already started.

Until the bill is published, many practical details are unknown. It is not clear how the ban would be enforced, what penalties would apply, or how long "temporary" would be. It is also not clear how the rules would work for tourists who arrive with glasses they use every day.

Why it matters

This story matters beyond Norway for three reasons.

First, it is a test for the whole category. Big tech companies are betting that AI glasses could become a main gateway to AI, because talking to an assistant that sees and hears what you do is easier than opening an app and typing. The Financial Times cites analysts at Counterpoint Research who expect consumers to spend more than 1 trillion dollars on wearable devices between 2026 and 2032. If more countries follow Norway, that bet gets a lot more complicated.

Second, it shifts the focus to the people around the user. Most AI privacy debates are about what companies do with your data. AI glasses add a new problem: the person being recorded never agreed to anything. A rule based on places, as Norway proposes, is one way to protect those bystanders without banning the device itself.

Third, it is a European signal. Norway is not an EU member, but it is part of the European Economic Area and closely tied to EU rules. A clear national approach to AI glasses could become a reference point for other European countries that are wondering how to handle the same devices.

Dany's take

I like this proposal more than I expected. I am a big fan of AI tools, and I can see how useful a smart assistant in your glasses can be, especially for people with poor eyesight. But I also know how it feels to sit somewhere and wonder whether the person opposite is filming you. The camera on a phone is obvious, the camera in a pair of glasses is not. What I find smart about Norway's approach is that it does not ban the technology, it protects places. Beaches, changing rooms, playgrounds and doctors' offices are exactly where most of us expect not to be recorded. The weak spot is the definition: if the law is too narrow, the next device simply looks a little different, and if it is too wide, it could hit a lot of harmless gadgets. I will watch closely what the bill says, and whether other countries in Europe pick up the idea.

Sources: Norwegian government press release: Vil innføre midlertidig forbud mot KI-briller. Also: Reuters: Norway to propose temporary ban on AI glasses in some public places, Ars Technica and Financial Times: AI glasses face their first major government crackdown, AP via CBC News: Norway seeks temporary ban on smart glasses amid privacy concerns and NTB via Aftenposten.