# The Laws Are Coming For Smart Glasses

Source: https://idevice.com/laws-coming-smart-glasses
Published: 2026-06-17

> Three states, three different fears, and not a single federal law to cover any of it.

Three states have introduced laws targeting smart glasses this year, each aimed at a different way the technology could be misused.

[Illinois just passed a bill](https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/smart-glasses-could-be-banned-while-driving-in-illinois-as-bill-heads-to-governor/3949639/) that would ban drivers from AI wearing smart glasses entirely. Unlike phones, which can be used hands-free with voice commands, smart glasses would get no exemption at all. The bill passed unanimously and is now waiting for the governor's signature. The timing is awkward for Snap, which specifically designed the [Specs' electrochromic lenses](https://www.uploadvr.com/snap-specs-design-revealed-preorders-open-price/) to work through car windshields.

[Pennsylvania introduced a bill](https://gizmodo.com/smart-glasses-would-legally-require-a-recording-light-under-proposed-law-2000768694) last week that would require every pair of smart glasses sold or used in the state to show a visible light whenever they're recording. Disabling that light, which dozens of cheap online services already offer to do for [Ray-Ban Meta](https://idevice.com/smart-glasses/meta-ray-ban/roadmap) owners, would be illegal.

[California introduced a bill](https://ppc.land/california-bill-targets-secret-recordings-by-smart-glasses-in-workplaces/) in February that would make it a crime to secretly record people with wearable devices inside any business, and would also go after manufacturers who sell technology designed to hide that recording is happening.

There is no federal law covering any of this. The devices currently fall under a patchwork of wiretapping statutes and state-level privacy laws that were written long before smart glasses existed, none of which address recording indicators, driving use, or what happens when your footage is reviewed overseas.

[Meta sold over seven million Ray-Ban glasses last year.](https://www.uploadvr.com/meta-essilorluxottica-sold-7-million-smart-glasses-in-2025/) Samsung's glasses ship this summer, followed by [Snap Specs](https://idevice.com/smart-glasses/snap-specs/roadmap) this fall. A [federal lawsuit filed in March](https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/05/meta-sued-over-ai-smartglasses-privacy-concerns-after-workers-reviewed-nudity-sex-and-other-footage/) is already asking the question these state bills only partially answer: when a smart glasses company says their product is 'designed for privacy,' whose privacy do they mean? The wearer's, or the stranger across the coffee shop who never agreed to be recorded? California's bill covers that stranger in some business settings. Nobody's bill covers them on the street... at least, not yet.

Smart glasses are just breaking into the mainstream, which means more regulation, for better or for worse, is coming.

## Sources

- [UploadVR](https://www.uploadvr.com/snap-specs-design-revealed-preorders-open-price/) (UploadVR)
- [Gizmodo](https://gizmodo.com/smart-glasses-would-legally-require-a-recording-light-under-proposed-law-2000768694) (Gizmodo)
- [UploadVR](https://www.uploadvr.com/meta-essilorluxottica-sold-7-million-smart-glasses-in-2025/) (UploadVR)
- [TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/05/meta-sued-over-ai-smartglasses-privacy-concerns-after-workers-reviewed-nudity-sex-and-other-footage/) (TechCrunch)