Pennsylvania lawmakers have introduced a new bill that would require smart glasses to display a visible recording light when they capture audio or video in the state. The proposal, House Bill 2603, comes from state Representative Joe Ciresi, who leads the House Communications & Technology Committee. He says the bill aims to protect people’s privacy as smart glasses and other wearable recording devices become increasingly common and harder to spot in public.
The bill covers smart glasses and other wearable devices that attach to the body. Any device that falls into this category would need to have a clear visual indicator, such as a light, that turns on when recording starts. Users would also be prohibited from obscuring these indicators while the wearables are in use, such as by covering them with a sticker or deactivating them internally.
Companies that make or sell non‑compliant devices in Pennsylvania could face per‑unit civil penalties that rise with repeated violations. Retailers would meanwhile be responsible for ensuring that the devices they sell comply with this rule. Together, manufacturers and retailers would have to supply written information to every buyer informing them of the law and its requirements.
This push comes after growing concern that people can use products like Ray‑Ban Meta to secretly record strangers in public and private spaces, even going so far as to use them for extortion. Unfortunately (but unsurprisingly), this has given rise to sneaky services that modify smart glasses to disable their recording light and turn them into covert cameras, as reported by our own Jon Martindale at our sister publication, PCMag.
