Dutch eyewear chain Hans Anders halts sale of Meta glasses, citing privacy concerns

AMSTERDAM, Oct 2 (Reuters) - One of the largest Dutch eyewear retail chains said on Friday it had suspended sales of Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses in the Netherlands and Belgium amid growing privacy concerns, in one of the first such moves by a retailer.

"This decision follows the ongoing public and political debate surrounding smart glasses and the questions being raised about the conditions under which this technology can be used," a spokesperson for the Hans Anders chain said.

A growing Dutch outcry over the glasses mirrors a broader backlash against smart glasses equipped with cameras.

In Britain, pub chain Wetherspoon has restricted use of Meta's glasses over concerns about covert recording, while Meta and Luxottica face a US suit alleging videos captured by the glasses were viewed by human annotators without the knowledge of people filmed.

A Meta spokesperson said the company is continuing to develop the popular glasses. "Every pair with a camera has a bright light on the front that blinks when you take a photo or video — it can't be turned off, and the camera is disabled if someone covers or tampers with it," they said.  

In the Netherlands, privacy regulator AP last month warned that videos made with smart glasses showing identifiable people cannot generally be shared or published without their permission, which would be difficult to obtain in a public place. 

Consumer rights group Consumentenbond this week said it would take Meta to court unless the company changes the glasses to comply with privacy law.

Offlimits, a group that combats online abuse, on Friday also urged Meta and Ray-Ban owner EssilorLuxottica to voluntarily remove the glasses from sale until a way can be found to make surreptitious recordings impossible.

EssilorLuxottica could not immediately be reached for comment.

Hans Anders is a subsidiary of Nexeye, which is owned by private equity firm KKR. Nexeye operates 776 stores across the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Sweden. It does not sell the glasses in the latter three countries. 

(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Jan Harvey)