Smartglasses policy: a workplace guide

Retrospective covering 30 August 2026, written on 9 September 2026.

A workplace smartglasses policy should start with what may be recorded, where the recording goes and who can stop it. My recommendation is to approve a specific task and environment before approving a device category across the organisation.

On 30 August, the Guardian reported an Australian eSafety warning urging smartglasses manufacturers to strengthen recording privacy. Guardian reporting.

That is the news trigger for this guide. The operational recommendations below are my assessment of how an IT team can review a proposed deployment. They are not claims that every product has the same capabilities or that an overseas warning creates a new UK rule.

Define the job before reviewing the device

Begin with a sentence describing the intended benefit. For example, a maintenance worker wants to share a view of equipment with a remote colleague. That is a testable use case. A request to let everyone experiment with recording throughout the day is much harder to assess.

List the people and information that might appear during that task. Equipment labels, computer screens, visitor badges and conversations may matter just as much as faces. This is an inventory exercise: walk through the location and ask what would enter the recording if the wearer simply turned around.

Identify an alternative way to complete the job. A fixed camera, an existing phone or a scheduled remote support session might provide the necessary benefit with fewer surprises. The comparison helps establish why the wearable is useful rather than treating novelty as a business requirement.

Give the proposed use a named owner. IT can assess configuration and support, but the business owner needs to explain why the task is necessary and accept responsibility for how staff carry it out.

Map the complete recording journey

Treat the device as the start of a workflow. Ask the supplier to demonstrate capture, temporary storage, transfer, processing, sharing and deletion. Do not assume the advertised feature list answers those questions.

Use a staged recording containing fictional information. Follow it through every connected application and account. Ask the supplier which copies remain after deletion, which settings are enforced centrally and which settings depend on the wearer making the right choice each time.

This exercise should produce a simple table that your privacy lead and service owner can review together.

Record uncertainty explicitly. An unanswered question should lead to a narrower pilot, a supplier follow-up or a decision to wait. It should not silently turn into an assumption of acceptable behaviour.

Make boundaries easy to follow

A policy is more useful when it names recognisable places and tasks. Specify approved work areas, prohibited recording situations and a simple process for asking permission to expand the pilot. Avoid expecting employees to make a fresh risk judgement every time they enter a room.

Give visitors and colleagues an understandable explanation of the activity. Include who owns the trial and how to raise a concern. Test whether the explanation works with someone who has not attended the project meetings.

Provide a clear response when a person objects. The wearer should know whether to stop, move location or contact the owner. A policy that leaves that decision to an improvised argument in a meeting room is not operationally ready.

Include an accessibility route alongside the recording boundaries. Ask the employee what assistance they need and involve the appropriate workplace specialists. Assess the proposed adjustment on its facts rather than assuming all uses of the device present the same questions.

Separate device approval from data approval

An organisation may be comfortable supporting the hardware but unwilling to permit particular recordings. Keep those decisions separate. An approved device should not become blanket permission to capture customer meetings, private conversations or confidential documents.

Similarly, define whether an approved business account is required. Establish what happens when a worker leaves, changes role or loses the device. Ask whether business material can be recovered or removed without relying solely on the individual's personal account.

The ICT supplier risk guide provides a broader framework for these ownership questions. For the privacy review, use your established process and involve the person responsible for data protection.

Run a pilot with a decision at the end

Before starting, define what would justify continuing. Useful evidence could include completing the task successfully, fewer interruptions to a specialist and an acceptable experience for the people nearby. Ask participants about confusion as well as convenience.

Include a rehearsal of stopping the pilot and removing its recordings. If the team cannot describe how the trial ends, it is not ready to begin with real workplace information.

At the review, choose one of three outcomes: approve the specific use with documented boundaries, revise and retest, or stop. Do not let a temporary experiment become permanent through inattention. The valuable outcome is a decision your staff can follow and your organisation can explain.