Yesterday I asked the AZ community why so many people would want to buy these glasses other than for pervy and malicious purposes. Thank you to those who responded. I wasn't flooded with ideas for helpful uses though.

It seems there are genuine concerns about this (yet another) surveillance gadget. The one that worries me the most is how it can be used in exploitative ways against children and other vulnerable groups. If you are also concerned you may want to sign the petition.

Early reports of misuse have centred on women and children. A TikToker in the US was caught filming women in public with smart glasses and uploading the footage without their consent. RMIT's Dr Dana McKay warns the early reports of misuse are already targeting women, and that our privacy laws are nowhere near ready for cameras on people's faces. Parents commenting on Kmart's social media have raised the same question repeatedly: nothing prevents someone wearing the glasses into a change room, a swimming pool, a playground or a school gate.

For more details go to the link.

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[–] arbilp3@aussie.zone 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Put whatever label you like on it and call me silly. Your examples show we are already in a technodystopia.

You don't address my strongest concern, which should be yours too as a parent. These glasses can be used in exploitative ways targeting vulnerable groups. Because they don't all have the flashing lights they can be misused in environments where children and people with disabilities, for example, do not recognise that they are camera glasses.

[–] Nath@aussie.zone 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Cameras that I see as worse than the glasses already exist. Just google "spy camera" and you'll see lots of options that come in all sizes and shapes. Cameras integrated into caps you wear, cameras disguised as pens or clocks, cameras about 1cm wide that can be hidden just about anywhere in a room, others you wear around your neck as a necklace, the list is endless. Kmart sells a camera on their site that could easily be used for abusive purposes. Or it could be used to watch over and soothe a baby.

I see no point in being riled up by one style of camera being sold at one retailer. Do I want randoms filming my kids? No. Can I stop them? Also no. Unless we make a serious cultural change to our society, it's decades too late. The simple fact is that anyone can stand in a public place like a playground and film kids. They can do it secretly with a camera embedded into an item of clothing. They can do it blatantly with a giant television camera mounted on their shoulder. This is perfectly legal - you can't stop them. All you can do is remove your kids from that public place.

[–] arbilp3@aussie.zone 1 points 2 weeks ago

I take your point.

Do you ever wonder why our current 'developed' societies have such a fixation on photographing, videoing, surveilling, snooping? It's like people can't just live life, they have to be recording even the most trivial situations. Call me old-fashioned.