- Technology & Innovation
- Advocacy & Rights
BCA urges calm as smart glasses ban debate threatens vision-impaired users
Key points4 points
- Blind Citizens Australia says smart glasses are a powerful, affordable assistive technology for people who are blind or vision impaired.
- Members report feeling unsafe using smart glasses in public because of inflammatory political and media language.
- Some councils are imposing ad hoc bans on smart glasses at their facilities, prompting confrontations with users.
- Users with dog guides or long canes are reportedly facing harassment for wearing smart glasses.
Summary
Blind Citizens Australia has urged politicians and media to tone down rhetoric around proposed smart glasses bans, arguing that inflammatory language such as "covert surveillance" and "pervert glasses" is making people who are blind or vision impaired feel unsafe. The group describes smart glasses as an affordable, all-in-one assistive technology platform for this community. It also reports that some councils are banning the devices at their facilities, leaving users, including those with guide dogs or long canes, facing harassment. For providers, this signals potential impacts on assistive technology use among participants and a need to monitor how the debate evolves.