Science minister vows swift government-wide measures on smart glasses misuse

Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon said Friday his ministry will make efforts to devise measures to address problems caused by smart glasses, vowing to speed up related guidelines already under preparation.

Bae made the remarks during a parliamentary audit held at the National Assembly when a lawmaker asked whether the ministry is planning to deal with concerns over covert filming and privacy violations caused by such devices.

"We will swiftly come up with response measures at a government-wide level," Bae said, noting that President Lee Jae Myung pointed out the issue during a recent Cabinet meeting. "We are preparing a guideline but will speed up its progress."

Smart glasses are wearable computer frames that integrate digital technology into eyewear, allowing people to film objects with a camera installed on the glasses, or show visual information on the lenses. The technology was brought to the mainstream mostly by Ray-Ban from Meta Platforms Inc.

The device has faced scrutiny in South Korea recently, as a few people have been caught using them to cheat in academic and technical exams or illegally film others. Several countries, including Norway, Australia and the European Union, are already weighing possible restrictions on such devices.

Authorities found a total of three cases of illegal filming utilizing smart glasses as of this year, according to data from Rep. Lee Jeong-heon of the ruling Democratic Party.

Yonhap