Arabic version: مشروع قوانين الخصوصية يستهدف المخاوف بشأن النظارات الذكية

According to ABC News, the federal government is not currently considering an import ban on smart glasses as Attorney-General Michelle Rowland releases draft privacy legislation for consultation. The proposed reforms are intended to strengthen privacy protections and address risks linked to artificial intelligence and wearable technology.

Rowland said the Privacy Act consultation did not cover import restrictions, while adding that other measures were not ruled out. The consultation paper says the laws are designed to be technology-neutral, applying to privacy breaches arising from emerging technologies including smart glasses. She suggested councils and businesses could restrict their use in areas under their control.

Brisbane City Council last week banned secret filming with AI smart glasses and other wearable recording devices at public pools. Rowland encouraged other councils to consider comparable restrictions in public spaces, including council-run childcare centres. Education Minister Jason Clare’s office said smart glasses were already covered by a childcare-centre ban on personal devices capable of taking, storing or transmitting images.

The draft laws include a proposed “right to erasure”, allowing people to request that large social media platforms and search engines remove and destroy their personal information. The legislation also proposes a “fair and reasonable” test, meaningful consent requirements and measures intended to prevent businesses from trading personal information without permission. Rowland said privacy penalties could reach tens of millions of dollars or be calculated as a percentage of revenue or turnover.

The government also announced IDLock, a myGov service intended to let people block, unblock and monitor use of identity documents through the government’s document verification service. It is due to be available from next year, with testing involving a small number of users planned for later this year. The service could allow a person to block documents to help prevent scams or fraud, then temporarily unblock them for verification such as a credit-card application.