The smart glasses ban introduced by Oslo will apply throughout the school day and across all levels of the city’s education system, as Norwegian authorities debate how devices equipped with cameras and artificial intelligence should be regulated. Oslo says the measure is intended to protect pupils from covert recording and the collection of personal data by technology companies.
Oslo’s smart glasses ban covers the entire school day
The Norwegian capital has prohibited AI-enabled and smart glasses in its schools, extending restrictions on private digital devices to technology that can look much like ordinary eyewear.
The rules apply for the entire school day and across the school system. Oslo’s City Commissioner for Education (byråd for utdanning) Julie Remen Midtgarden, from the Conservative Party (Høyre), said the city could not wait for national regulations while the devices were already being used in Norwegian schoolyards.
“We politicians have to be brave and honest about what this is really about: one of the richest companies in the world has launched a product whose entire business model is to make it impossible to know when you are being filmed,” Midtgarden said.
She argued that children should not become part of Meta’s data collection simply by attending school. Oslo already tightened its school rules in 2025 to restrict filming and photography during school hours.
Why smart glasses raise privacy concerns
Devices such as Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses resemble conventional glasses or sunglasses but include cameras, microphones and speakers. They can take photographs and videos, make calls, play audio and provide access to AI-powered functions.
The fact that recording equipment can be incorporated into an everyday object has created particular concerns about whether people nearby are able to understand when they are being filmed.
Yle has previously reported that workers employed by a Meta subcontractor in Kenya encountered sensitive footage while preparing training data for artificial intelligence. According to the Finnish broadcaster, the material included intimate recordings and videos from bathrooms captured using smart glasses.
The debate therefore extends beyond whether pupils should be allowed to use another digital device in the classroom. It also concerns privacy, consent and the handling of recordings by technology companies.
Norway is considering national rules
Oslo’s decision comes while the Norwegian government is examining broader regulation.
On 25 August, Minister of Digitalisation and Public Governance (digitaliserings- og forvaltningsminister) Karianne Tung said Norway should introduce stricter rules for smart glasses and similar devices. She announced plans for an expert group to advise the government and encouraged public institutions and private organisations to develop their own guidelines in the meantime.
Tung specifically raised the possibility of restricting functions such as facial recognition of other people in public spaces.
Minister of Education (kunnskapsminister) Kari Nessa Nordtun has also asked Norwegian municipalities and schools to prohibit Meta glasses and other AI-enabled glasses through their school regulations.
Midtgarden has criticised the pace of the national response.
“The glasses are being sold in Norway now, they are being used in schoolyards, and the problem already exists. Setting up a working group is not action,” she said.
She also stressed that school regulations can only cover part of the issue because they do not determine how the devices may be used on public transport, in sports facilities or elsewhere outside school.
Bærum has also moved to restrict AI glasses
Oslo is not the only Norwegian municipality acting before national legislation is in place.
Neighbouring Bærum has prohibited AI glasses for pupils from grades 1 to 10, including during activities in its school-age childcare programme (SFO). The municipality treats them as private digital equipment, putting them in the same category as mobile phones and smartwatches.
The measures in Oslo and Bærum illustrate how schools are beginning to respond to wearable AI devices before a common national framework has been established.
For Norway, the next question will be whether the government moves from recommendations and local rules towards restrictions applying more broadly in public spaces. The debate is also relevant elsewhere in Europe, where increasingly discreet wearable cameras and AI-enabled devices are adding a new dimension to existing questions about privacy and personal data protection.
