Why WA Schools Must Prepare for Smart Glasses
WA independent schools have worked hard to enforce mobile phone bans. Now, a new challenge has arrived that cannot simply be locked away in a locker, camera enabled smart glasses.
Australian Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind recently highlighted this emerging issue, asking in an OAIC update whether society is passing through the looking glass with the rapid mainstreaming of surveillance wearables. As major tech companies release discreet recording frames, school leaders must look beyond hand held devices and prepare for hands free tech.
Smartphones provide clear visual cues when someone is recording. Smart glasses do the exact opposite by design. Built to look like standard eyewear, these frames allow wearers to capture high definition video, audio, and photos with a subtle tap or voice prompt. In a school environment, this discreet capability creates immediate safeguarding blind spots in sensitive spaces like change rooms and boarding houses. It also raises the risk of covert peer filming, classroom disruption, and real time academic misconduct powered by built in AI assistants.
While Australia's federal Privacy Act primarily regulates corporate and institutional data, WA independent schools still hold strict duty of care obligations and must navigate state surveillance laws that restrict recording private activities without consent. Emerging civil protections also make it clearer that individuals can face legal redress for serious invasions of personal privacy.
Staying ahead requires a few immediate adjustments to school policy. Leadership teams should modernise Acceptable Use Policies by explicitly restricting camera enabled eyewear alongside mobile phones. Clear protocols are also needed for students who use smart frames with prescription lenses, ensuring that recording hardware is demonstrably disabled during the school day. Finally, integrating wearable privacy and consent into digital citizenship lessons will ensure students understand that covert recording is both a disciplinary breach and an ethical violation.
To support this transition, we have updated our suite of governance templates to reflect the Privacy Commissioner's recommendations. Revisions are now live across our Student-Friendly ICT Acceptable Use Policy, Devices and Digital Access Consent Forms, Student Photographs and Video Images Policy, CCTV and Video Surveillance Policy, Staff ICT Policy and both Basic and Advanced Information Governance frameworks. Our AI Academic Integrity Guidelines and Student-Friendly Generative AI Usage Policies have also been refreshed to help school leaders, staff, and students navigate this next wave of technology safely.
