Smart glasses make secret filming easier. What does NZ law actually protect you from?

Christoph Schmidt/Getty Images At a glance, they look much like ordinary eyewear.

But the latest generation of “ smart glasses ”, including Meta’s Ray-Ban and Oakley ranges , can capture photos and video without people nearby necessarily knowing they’re being recorded.

And they’re becoming increasingly accessible.

Anko’s Camera Glasses , recently launched at Kmart, cost just $99 – making them among the cheapest on the New Zealand market.

For some people, this technology offers significant benefits.

AI-enabled glasses can assist blind and low-vision people by reading signs, identifying objects and communicating visual information through audio.

But the same technology also makes covert filming remarkably easy.

Cases overseas have already involved women being secretly recorded and turned into social media content.

And if that happens in New Zealand, existing law may offer surprisingly limited protection – particularly if someone is filmed in public.

Why smart glasses are causing worry Smart glasses enter a world in which covert filming, online harassment and image-based sexual abuse are established forms of gendered harm , disproportionately affecting women and girls.

Men have already used smart glasses to covertly record encounters with women and upload the footage to social media .

Women working in massage parlours and the sex industry have also reportedly been recorded without their knowledge or consent.

Such footage can then be sexualised through captions and comments, generating entertainment and engagement for an audience the person recorded never chose.

In the US, boys have reportedly begun using smart glasses to secretly film and harass female classmates before uploading the footage to TikTok.