SACRAMENTO—California has vetoed a bill that would have regulated secret recordings made with smart glasses, preserving the state’s cherished tradition of discovering you were content only after somebody posts you vertically.
Gov. Gavin Newsom rejected SB 1130 on September 30. The measure would have made it a misdemeanor to use wearable recording devices to capture people without explicit consent in business areas where privacy is reasonably expected, including changing rooms and medical offices. Beginning in 2028, it also would have required wearable cameras sold in California to use a visible light, sound or other prominent recording indicator.
Newsom’s veto message called the definition of wearable recording technology broad and imprecise, and said existing California law already prohibits unlawful recording in private spaces.
That leaves residents protected by a robust privacy system known as “hopefully noticing the tiny light on a stranger’s face.”
Innovation must never feel observed
The bill also targeted products designed to conceal or disable recording indicators. Violators secretly recording people could have faced up to a year in jail or a fine of up to $1,500; noncompliant manufacturers could have faced fines up to $2,500.
In Pink Slime’s fictional reconstruction, Silicon Valley lobbyists warned that making a camera visibly behave like a camera could destroy California’s fragile innovation ecosystem. Engineers have spent years making surveillance look like eyewear, and one blinking light could return society to the dark ages when creeps had to hold a phone awkwardly.
The state has instead unveiled a voluntary etiquette program. Smart-glasses owners are encouraged to announce, “Please continue behaving naturally while my face backs you up to the cloud.” Anyone entering a changing room may protect their privacy by changing behind a larger pair of smart glasses.
Retailers are expected to maintain compliance with a small “Please Don’t Film Customers” sign positioned beneath the Wi-Fi password and directly above the terms nobody reads. Complaints may be submitted by uploading a face scan, location history and short video explaining why surveillance makes you uncomfortable.
A reasonable expectation of confusion
The Associated Press reported that more than seven million Meta smart glasses were sold last year. Meta said it remains committed to prioritizing privacy while developing the technology, a sentence now legally required to appear whenever a camera becomes small enough to forget.
Supporters said the bill would have clarified how existing privacy rules apply to rapidly growing wearable devices. Opponents argued it was overly broad and redundant. California therefore reached its preferred regulatory outcome: everyone agrees secret recording is bad, nobody agrees which object is doing it, and the device has already uploaded the meeting.
Lawmakers may try again with narrower language. Early drafts reportedly define a wearable recorder as “the thing on that guy’s face,” though attorneys caution this could accidentally include eyebrows.