‘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.

Concerns accessibility tech could be caught in ‘crossfire’

“One of my principal concerns is making sure that in casting the net wide, that we don’t end up having adverse impacts on people who are vision impaired, who do require this assistive technology,” Vincent Mayor Alison Xamon said.

“My son is one of those people who are increasingly reliant on the emerging technologies around vision for people who are vision impaired.

“So I think it is going to be really critical that while we try to ensure that we’ve got sufficient safeguards for people’s privacy, that we make sure that people with disabilities are not going to be adversely affected by a clampdown on these sorts of usages.”

Councillor Sophie Greer echoed Xamon’s concerns, but noted that it has become incredibly difficult to determine the difference between regular and smart glasses.

“I don’t want to see disabled people caught in the crossfire because of someone else’s predatory and gross behaviour,” she said.

“While I was at the pool this morning, I did have a moment of reflection trying to just work out who’s got the glasses on, and it is impossible.”

The notice of motion was approved unanimously, and a report is expected to be presented at a council meeting by December.

Sub-$100 price tags trigger rapid rollout across facilities

Meanwhile, Wanneroo councillor Alex Figg made the notice of motion for Tuesday’s council meeting “to protect the privacy of users of City of Wanneroo facilities to the greatest extent that we can”.

The motion would see all conditions of entry statements at city-staffed facilities include the following provision: “No photography, filming and video recording within the facility without prior consent of management.”

Figg said the concerns around privacy issues have been exemplified by “pairs of video camera glasses available at local stores and online retailers for less than $100”.

“Banning video camera-equipped sunglasses and spectacles at City facilities will lead the way in protecting the privacy of users of City facilities,” he said in the report to council.

“This is particularly important at the City’s gyms and at the City’s aquatic facilities, but this ban extends to almost all City owned staffed facilities, including those on a leasing or management arrangement where these issues may arise.”

Figg said he acknowledged it will be hard to enforce in some instances, but that difficulty is “not a valid reason” to forgo taking action against the issue.

“We want residents to feel safe at City facilities, in particular women and families,” he said.

Figg said the proposal wouldn’t permanently ban the use of smart glasses, with council having the ability to remove the ban at a later date.

City officers have recommended the motion be approved.

Across Perth’s metropolitan area, other local governments are acknowledging the issues around smart glasses.

A City of Perth spokesperson said while they did not have a current policy around smart glasses, they were reviewing this internally.

A spokesperson for the Town of Cottesloe said they were not aware of any current concerns regarding smart glasses use in council run spaces, but they would respond to community concern if it arose.

City of Bayswater Mayor Filomena Piffaretti said they also don’t have a policy around the glasses, but were considering the implications of a ban on camera glasses at city facilities.