Eyewear chain Hans Anders has suspended Meta smart-glasses sales in the Netherlands and Belgium amid public and political debate over privacy. Dutch consumer and online-safety organizations are also pressing Meta to change or withdraw the products. The retailer’s decision concerns its own sales. Meta says the glasses use a visible indicator during recording and that attempts to cover it disable the cameras.
The decision covers Hans Anders sales in the Netherlands and Belgium. The Dutch privacy regulator, known as AP, had warned the previous month that public videos generally require consent when identifiable people appear. Consumer organization Consumentenbond said it could take Meta to court unless the product was changed to comply with the law.[1]
Offlimits, a Dutch online-safety organization, also called on Meta and its eyewear partner EssilorLuxottica to withdraw the glasses voluntarily. It wants sales stopped until covert recording can be ruled out. Those demands sit alongside the retailer’s suspension; they are requests from organizations rather than a court order already stopping sales.[1]
Meta says a prominent light on the front of the glasses illuminates during recording. According to the company, attempts to cover or tamper with the indicator disable the cameras. Hans Anders belongs to Nexeye, which is owned by KKR. The group’s operations in Germany, Austria and Sweden were not selling these glasses. Britain’s pub chain Wetherspoon had also restricted their use in its venues over concerns about covert recording.[1]
