Vienna Court Overturns Student Expulsion Over Smart Glasses
The glasses made both teachers and classmates feel uneasy about potentially being filmed or recorded at school,
the Federal Administrative Court of Austria stated after a student in Vienna was expelled for wearing AI-powered eyewear in class.
The case highlights mounting international tension over smart glasses equipped with covert cameras, microphones, and artificial intelligence. Manufactured by companies like Meta in partnership with Ray-Ban, the devices look like ordinary spectacles but can capture video and audio hands-free, leaving a small LED light as the primary physical indicator of recording. While the technology offers critical accessibility benefits for the blind and visually impaired, it has triggered intense scrutiny from privacy watchdogs and educational authorities across Europe.
Austria Proposes New Restrictions and Parliamentary Inquiry
Austria’s secretary of state for digitalization, Alexander Proll, announced that the country will launch a parliamentary inquiry into the use of smart glasses amid growing privacy concerns, as reported by Anadolu Ajansı. Proll presented a three-stage regulatory model that would prohibit recordings in sensitive locations such as schools, kindergartens, changing rooms, toilets, courts, prisons, and police and military facilities.
The proposal follows widespread public unease. Nearly 25,000 people have signed a petition calling for a ban on the devices, while the Vienna city government urged federal authorities to examine restrictions on public transportation, government offices, and schools, according to Anadolu Ajansı. Proll ruled out a total ban on the technology, emphasizing that the government aims to accommodate technological progress while preventing covert filming through mandatory measures like visible recording lights and acoustic signals.
The Austrian debate intensified after the Federal Administrative Court (BVwG) overturned the expulsion of a Vienna student who wore smart glasses to class over the course of a year. The court noted that the student suffers from an attention deficit disorder and presented a doctor’s certificate requiring him to wear those specific glasses. Although the student had been suspended four times before his expulsion, the court found that the education authority acted without establishing any misconduct or actual recordings. Mere discomfort does not justify expulsion from school,
the court ruled.
European Regulators Warn of Surveillance Risks in Schools
At the continental level, the European Union has no common ban or regulation on smart glasses in schools. However, identifiable images and voices constitute personal data under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) adopted a statement warning that smart glasses raise serious privacy concerns because individuals can be recorded without their knowledge. The watchdog highlighted heightened risks in sensitive spaces like schools and hospitals, noting that children are particularly vulnerable to intrusive data processing. The EDPB recommended that smart glasses incorporate reliable, hard-to-ignore warnings such as LED lights, audio signals, or smartphone notifications.
National education policies vary widely across member states. In Ireland, the Department of Education told The Journal that online safety is central to its Digital Strategy for Schools, requiring all institutions to maintain an acceptable use policy. A spokesperson for the Teachers Union of Ireland voiced serious concerns about recording devices in classrooms, stating that any technology capable of being used for bullying or harassment requires national guidelines. Meanwhile, the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland reported that the issue has not yet surfaced in its classrooms.
Other European nations are addressing the phenomenon through existing privacy frameworks. In Spain and Italy, schools possess the authority to limit the use of electronic devices under national data protection laws. Greece bans mobile phones and electronic equipment with image- and sound-processing functions across school premises. In France, where electronic devices are banned in all schools, exam supervisors flagged smart glasses as a growing blind spot after fraud suspicions rose by 30% during the baccalauréat examinations, according to a report by France 3.
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