Hong Kong privacy watchdog issues smart glasses guidance, urges minimal data collection and avoiding continuous recording
Hong Kong's privacy commissioner has issued guidance on smart glasses, warning users about risks of covert data collection and AI processing. Advice includes limiting recording, respecting privacy in sensitive places, and reviewing privacy settings.
Hong Kong's Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data has issued guidance on smart glasses to help the public understand the privacy risks of misuse and adopt good practices to protect personal data.
Privacy Commissioner Raini Lili Chung said smart glasses can take photos, record videos or capture audio without others easily noticing, which may increase the risk of excessive or covert collection of personal data. The photos, images, sounds and other data collected by smart glasses could also be analysed and processed by artificial intelligence systems, creating additional privacy risks. Users collecting or using personal data via smart glasses should follow the requirements under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance and always respect privacy, she added.
The guidance recommends users read product and service providers' privacy policies before using smart glasses, understand how data will be used, how long it will be retained and whether it will be shared with third parties. Users should check privacy settings to limit data sharing with third-party service providers. The guidance advises avoiding use of smart glasses or activating recording functions in places where the public has a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as hospitals, clinics and changing rooms. Users should not use smart glasses for illegal acts including unlawful filming of intimate images or recording in restricted areas. They should inform people before photographing or recording them, collect only personal data necessary for the intended purpose, avoid excessive or continuous recording, and turn off recording functions when not needed.
The watchdog also said users should carefully consider whether sharing photos, videos or audio recorded by smart glasses online or with third parties could disclose others' personal data without consent. Users should delete data collected by smart glasses that is no longer needed.