Public petition n°4301

Petitioner: Timothy Louis Smale

This petition is available in other languages:

The petitioners ask the Government and the Chamber of Deputies to introduce a moratorium, meaning a temporary ban, on the sale, promotion and use in places open to the public in Luxembourg of consumer smart glasses fitted with a camera or AI-based visual analysis. The moratorium would stay in place until a legal framework is adopted that effectively protects people who are filmed, recorded or analysed without their knowledge. Assistive technology used by blind, partially sighted or disabled people, and specialist professional equipment used for a defined purpose, would be excluded from the moratorium, including their use. The petitioners also ask the Government to press, at European Union level, for common rules that protect people from these devices.

Glasses fitted with cameras and artificial intelligence are now sold to the general public in Luxembourg's neighbouring countries. They look like ordinary glasses. In its information page updated on 26 August 2026, the National Commission for Data Protection (CNPD) notes that these glasses can be used more discreetly than a smartphone, so people nearby may not realise they are being filmed or recorded. It notes that the recording light can be hard to see, and that the light alone is not enough to meet the GDPR's transparency obligations. Current law protects our image and our privacy, but it mostly applies after the event. A person who does not know they have been filmed can neither refuse nor assert their rights. Footage can also be sent to online storage and analysed by artificial intelligence. The CNPD observes that facial recognition, although not yet offered on consumer models, already raises important questions. These issues affect everyone, and especially the most vulnerable: children, patients and people at risk of harassment or abuse, in schools, hospitals, changing rooms, swimming pools and in the street. Banning only the sale would not be enough: glasses bought abroad could still be worn in Luxembourg. That is why the moratorium must also cover their use in places open to the public. A moratorium is a temporary and proportionate measure. It would allow time to develop, with the CNPD, experts and disabled people, clear rules on transparency, sensitive places, data processing and facial recognition. It explicitly protects assistive technology, which gives real independence to blind and partially sighted people. Luxembourg has the chance to act before these devices become commonplace.