From Monday 20 July New York state courts will ban smart glasses at all their locations. The ban affects the 1,240 courts in the state’s Unified Judicial System, and covers any glasses or headgear with a camera or microphone, including versions with prescription lenses. Those wearing them will have to leave them with uniformed officers before entering, even if they are lawyers or court personnel.
The first signs with the announcement appeared last week on the doors of the Honorable James C. Torney III Criminal Courthouse, as reported by the local newspaper Syracuse. Visitors are asked to bring their own
a pair of traditional glasses for use inside the building. Some courts in other states, including Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, already ban smart glasses in their jurisdictions, but New York is the first state to impose a blanket ban across the country.
Why the ban
However, filming is not permitted in New York courts. The rules of the state’s unified court system are explicit: “You are prohibited from taking photographs, making motion pictures or videotaping, or making audio or video recordings or broadcasts, within any courtroom, including a courtroom, office, or hallway, at any time or occasion, whether or not the court is in session.”
Smart glasses make it easier to discreetly bypass this rule, because you don’t need to hold up a camera or smartphone to start recording. Most models have an indicator light that signals the recovery in progress, but it can be deactivated or removed by those who turn to a modder. This is also why the justice system chose to ban upstream devices, instead of relying only on the warning light as a deterrent.
The previous Zuckerberg
The case that brought the most attention to the issue dates back to February, when Mark Zuckerberg testified in a jury trial related to a lawsuit about social media addiction. Some of his staff wore Meta’s Ray-Bans while they accompanied him to the courtroom, and the judge reminded everyone not to record the phases of the trial with those devices. It is unclear whether anyone had actually used them before the warning, but the judge said he was most concerned about the possibility of the jurors being videotaped and identified.
Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses, among the most popular on the market, do not take photos or shoot videos if the system detects that the capture LED is covered. The company also announced an update that deactivates the camera when it detects that the LED has been tampered with or physically removed.
A ban that is expanding
Restrictions on smart glasses don’t just affect the courts. Royal Caribbean has banned them this year in some areas of its ships, including public restrooms, juvenile program spaces, medical areas and casinos. MSC Cruises had already introduced a partial ban last year for privacy reasons, while in Illinois lawmakers are considering add smart glasses to the list of devices prohibited from driving, as part of the measures against distraction while driving.
