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Potsdam Bans Smart Glasses From Public Pools and Saunas

The city will add data glasses with cameras and microphones to pool rules so staff can block covert recordings and protect visitors’ privacy.

Overview

  • City councillors backed a motion from the Green/Volt faction to explicitly prohibit smart glasses in Bäderlandschaft Potsdam facilities.
  • The rule targets data glasses that can record video and audio unobtrusively and that are increasingly shared on social media without subjects’ knowledge.
  • Officials said the ban will be written into the pools’ house- and bathing regulations and will expand an existing prohibition on image recordings.
  • Potsdam plans to train pool and sauna staff to recognise smart glasses so personnel can enforce the rule when the regulatory text is updated.
  • The change aims to protect people in swimwear from being filmed without consent and follows broader concerns about wearable cameras and privacy in public spaces.