More Than Meets The Eye: Smart Glasses In The Workplace

Smart glasses have arrived in the workplace. Used in logistics, quality control, and remote maintenance, the devices often resemble ordinary glasses but can continuously record images, audio, and sometimes the wearer's location. Below, we examine the key risks for employers in Germany, with lessons for other jurisdictions.

Anyone who thinks the use of smart glasses in the workplace is purely a technical issue for the IT department is mistaken. For employers, these devices also raise questions that go beyond technology and operational efficiency.

Depending on how they are deployed and the functionality of the device, their use may engage data protection law, workplace monitoring rules, works council co-determination requirements and, in some circumstances, criminal law. Employers must also consider whether data collected through the devices is shared with manufacturers, cloud providers or other third parties.