‘Impossible to spot’: Perth councils move to ban smart glasses from pools and gyms

Perth councils are among a growing number of organisations looking to ban smart glasses, with plans afoot to outlaw the devices from public pools, gyms and youth centres.

Last week, the City of Vincent became the first local government in Western Australia to consider banning the new technology.

And on Tuesday night, the City of Wanneroo is set to take it one step further when council votes on whether to impose a ban at all city-owned facilities.

It comes as smart glasses are banned from WA classrooms in an effort to protect teachers and students from being secretly recorded.

That ban, announced on Tuesday, will come into effect from the start of term 4 for all public schools.

At its ordinary council meeting on September 15, City of Vincent councillor Alex Castle made the notice of motion for officers to prepare a report on smart glasses and the possibility of banning them from the local government’s facilities.

“Smart glasses are becoming cheaper, more capable, and increasingly difficult to distinguish from ordinary eyewear,” she said.

“[The report is] not designed to determine whether this technology is good or bad, or whether it should be available in Australia. That’s not the role for us as a local government.”

Castle said a likely focus area for the report would be the Beatty Park Leisure Centre.

“I acknowledge that Beatty Park already has rules around photography and filming, which recognise that patrons should not be filmed without their explicit consent, and cameras are prohibited in and around the change areas,” she said.

“The issue is that these rules were developed when it was reasonably obvious when someone was using a camera.

“If someone holds their phone up at a swimming pool, people around them can generally see that filming may be taking place, and they have an opportunity to move away, to remove their child from view, or to object to being filmed.

“With the increased availability and use of smart glasses. It’s important to review these rules to consider this emerging technology.”

The discussion at the meeting was firmly supportive of the motion, with all councillors acknowledging they didn’t want the potential ban to affect people with a disability.