The Australian privacy commissioner has opened an investigation into Shenzhen Qingcheng, the company that developed the HeyCyan app embedded in Kmart’s discounted smartglasses, after the firm failed to respond to official inquiries. The device, branded under Kmart’s Anko line and based on Meta’s Ray-Ban smartglasses technology, became controversial after reports in August detailed its capability to capture images and record high-definition video without obvious detection.
The glasses generated significant public backlash, with a petition gathering more than 55,000 signatures calling for restrictions on their use. Multiple local councils across the country have moved to ban the devices in public spaces such as swimming pools, while the federal government is examining whether to restrict their use in government workplaces. Kmart removed the glasses from its website earlier this week.
The privacy commissioner’s decision to investigate Shenzhen Qingcheng was based on the company’s lack of response to official correspondence as well as concerns identified through third-party technical analysis and examination of the entity’s privacy policy. Other companies involved, including Meta and Google, will not face investigation at this time. The commissioner noted that current privacy law limitations make it difficult to regulate individual users of such devices, as the Privacy Act applies only to organizations and government agencies.
The privacy commissioner highlighted that proposed legislative reforms would strengthen protections against surveillance wearables by replacing existing standards with broader fairness tests and requiring consideration of factors such as individual choice and child protection. University of Sydney researchers conducting analysis of publicly available smartglasses content found evidence suggesting a trend toward covert recording methods, with roughly 60% of interactions in a sample subset potentially qualifying as harassment based on visible discomfort or disengagement from recorded subjects.
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