Lawyer Warns of Privacy, Surveillance Issues With AI Smart Glasses in the Workplace
AI smart glasses are becoming powerful and appealing tools in the workplace; however, organizations should understand their legal and privacy concerns, said Jackson Lewis lawyer Joseph Lazzarotti in a blog post Monday.
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For instance, AI glasses in the workplace “can potentially create continuous and/or intrusive surveillance conditions that may violate the privacy rights of individuals they encounter,” Lazzarotti wrote. There are state and common law that limit surveillance, and increasingly “new laws are emerging that would target workplace surveillance technologies,” such as California’s AB-1331 (see 2509050003).
An example is warehouse workers using AI glasses for inventory management, but the glasses also pick up movement patterns, productivity data and conversations between coworkers.
In schools, the presence of minor students implicates the use of AI glasses with employees, and office workers using the technology’s note-taking features capturing employee discussions are other examples listed in the blog.
Some states, like Connecticut, Delaware and New York, require employee notification when “certain electronic monitoring” is occurring, Lazzarotti said. Moreover, the California Consumer Privacy Act affords specific rights to employees about their personal information as well as an obligation to inform them of some surveillance activities.
Workplaces where unions are present can also pose issues, as “surveillance may constitute an unfair labor practice requiring collective bargaining,” the blog said.
Accordingly, Lazzarotti recommended workplaces implement clear policies around AI glasses and other wearables, provide notices to employees, establish technical controls, limits and safeguards and perform privacy and risk assessments before deploying the technology in the workplace.
Though AI glasses could be a “transformative technology with genuine business value … the legal risks are real and growing.” Their deployment should happen “with eyes wide open -- understanding both the capabilities of the technology and the complex legal frameworks that govern its use.”