SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed legislation on Wednesday that would have penalized people for using smart glasses to record others without permission in changing rooms, doctor’s offices and other spaces generally considered private.
The bill, known as SB 1130, would have been the first law of its kind in the nation. It also would have required companies making smart glasses or other wearable devices to include a recording indicator light or sound starting in 2028.
Newsom wrote in a letter explaining his decision that the bill’s definition of a wearable recording device was too broad. He noted that the state already bars people from recording someone without consent in spaces generally considered private.
“For example, the bill’s definition of ‘wearable recording device’ could include certain smartwatches or other worn devices widely used in public spaces and capable of recording which could lead to significant confusion and unintended consequences,” Newsom wrote in his veto message to the State Senate.
The legislation was authored by State Sen. Eloise Gómez Reyes. She said the bill would have helped California respond to the rapid growth of the technology.
“Whatever we can do to protect an individual’s right to privacy, we have to do,” Reyes said.
Meta Ray-Bans, smart glasses rolled out in 2021, have grown especially popular. More than 7 million of the AI-powered devices were sold last year.
The bill would have built upon California’s existing privacy protections. California is one of about a dozen states that already requires both parties’ consent before a conversation can be recorded via audio or video.
Reyes’ proposal was designed to clarify that it applied to smart glasses and make it easier for people to tell when those devices are recording. Any person who violated the bill by secretly recording someone would have faced prison time or fines of up to $1,500. A company that made devices that did not comply would have faced fines up to $2,500.
TechNet, a group of executives from companies including Meta, Google and Amazon, opposed the legislation. The group said the bill would have been unfair to businesses and customers.
“California already has extensive laws governing unlawful recording, and as currently written, SB 1130 is not the right approach to addressing these concerns,” TechNet Executive Director Robert Boykin said in a statement.
Meta touted the benefits of its smart glasses in response to Newsom’s veto, including an initiative providing the devices to blinded veterans to help them read documents and identify objects.
“We’re still in the early days of building this technology and we’re committed to continuing prioritizing privacy as we build,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement.
Consumer Reports had urged lawmakers to pass the bill. Justin Brookman, the director of technology policy for the organization, said it is important to strengthen privacy laws for wearable smart devices because it is not as obvious to tell when a person is using them to record compared to when someone is filming with a phone or camera.
In a letter to lawmakers earlier this year, Consumer Reports referenced a TikTok in which a woman recounted her experience getting a wax when she realized her technician was wearing smart glasses. The technician told the content creator, Aniessa Navarro, that the glasses were not on, but the experience was still unnerving, she said in the TikTok.
The Consumer Reports letter also cited a separate event in which a woman said she was secretly filmed with smart glasses at a gym and harassed online after the video was uploaded to social media.
“The stories are enough to cause alarm, and we need to do something as soon as we can,” Reyes said at the end of the legislative session.
The veto means SB 1130 will not become law in its current form. California lawmakers could revisit the issue in a future legislative session.
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