Specs appeal: Welsh Parliament bans smart glasses

Senedd reverses decision to allow high-tech eyewear as teleprompters amid concerns over privacy, recording and parliamentary rules

Smart glasses have been banned from use in the Welsh Parliament’s debating chamber until further notice, just days after politicians were told they could use them to deliver speeches.

The Senedd’s presiding officer, Huw Irranca-Davies, has suspended permission for the devices pending a review of wearable technology, including concerns about covert filming and accessibility.

The reversal comes after an earlier ruling that smart glasses could be used in the chamber provided the presiding officer received advance notice.

According to an official communication reported by the BBC, no further requests to use AI-equipped glasses in the chamber will be considered until the review has reported.

Teleprompter glasses display a digital script in the wearer’s field of vision, allowing them to read prompts discreetly while appearing to speak from memory.

The decision follows publicity surrounding Reform UK Member of the Senedd Jason O’Connell, who has reporteldy used camera-free smart glasses as a teleprompter to help deliver speeches.

O’Connell said the glasses help improve his public speaking and reduce his reliance on paper notes.

He told BBC Wales: “I’ve voluntarily agreed to stop using the ones I’m using as a teleprompter until the review completes.”

Addressing the Senedd, Irranca-Davies confirmed that unauthorised filming and recording were already restricted across the parliamentary estate.

“Importantly, those restrictions are technology neutral, and they apply regardless of whether recording is undertaken using conventional equipment, a phone, smartglasses or any other device,” he said.

“However, we recognise that wearable and AI-enabled technologies are developing rapidly. I’ve therefore commissioned a review of our policies and guidance to ensure that they remain effective and keep pace with these developments.

“Our aim is to ensure that Members and their staff, Commission officials and the Senedd estate are properly protected, while allowing the legitimate benefits of new technologies, including, by the way, accessibility benefits, to be realised where their use is appropriate and properly authorised.”

The consultation is expected to conclude by the end of the year, with recommendations due in 2027.

READ MORE: Smart glasses and AI are opening a new route to sexual exploitation. Smart glasses make it easier to record women and children without their knowledge, while AI can transform everyday images into sexualised material. In the first of a two-part series on the risks posed by wearable cameras, Raj Joshi argues that the danger begins before any abusive image is ever created — at the point of capture. 

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