German advocacy group lodges criminal complaint over Meta AI glasses

FRANKFURT, Aug 12 (Reuters) - A German advocacy group has filed a criminal complaint against Meta and other companies selling the technology group's AI glasses in Germany, arguing the devices violate privacy laws.

Digital rights group HateAid said in a statement on Wednesday that the launch of the devices, the Ray-Ban Meta Wayfarer in particular, broke German digital privacy laws, in the latest sign of legal scrutiny in a nation where the right to privacy is highly valued.

"There's no place to escape from smart glasses. You have to expect at any moment to be filmed and then exposed on the internet," said HateAid managing director Josephine Ballon.

The organisation reported the management of Meta, units of spectacles maker EssilorLuxottica including Ray-Ban, as well as retailers Fielmann, Apollo-Optik, Mister Spex and MediaMarkt to the Frankfurt-based digital crime prosecution unit ZIT.

HateAid said its complaint was based on a federal digital data protection law that prohibits the sale of communication devices designed to film people without them noticing.

ZIT confirmed it received a complaint from HateAid invoking that law, saying it would routinely investigate on a preliminary basis whether there are grounds for a deeper probe.

MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group said it was taking the complaint very seriously, adding that its suppliers had contractual obligations for all goods to be compliant with the law.

Mister Spex said it had not been officially notified of a complaint and that it was taking protection of privacy very seriously.

The other companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Federal Network Agency previously issued a statement on smart glasses in late 2023, saying that connected devices for covert audio or video recordings were banned. 

The agency, known as BNetzA, told Reuters on Wednesday that it was closely monitoring the smart glasses market but was for now not formally investigating any breaches.

"The ownership, import or sale of smart glasses are not banned ... for as long as the recording function is clearly visible, for instance via an optical signal," said a spokesperson.

Broadcaster SWR reported in July that a Hamburg-based state privacy protection agency was taking legal steps against the use of smart glasses.

HateAid said in its statement it had been increasingly registering image-based digital violence, mainly targeting women.

"Smart glasses now allow a particularly inconspicuous surveillance technology to be disguised as an everyday object."  

(Reporting by Ludwig BurgerEditing by Keith Weir)