Reports, briefing notes and submissions from the Governing Immersive Tech Project at the University of Sydney
How New South Wales law applies to smart glasses. The analysis separates the data privacy problems wearable cameras create from the problem of being deliberately recorded in public, reviews the Surveillance Devices Act 2007, Crimes Act 1900 and Workplace Surveillance Act 2005, and asks whether NSW law adequately protects people from being targeted and recorded in public and semi-public spaces.
Drawing on 768 Instagram posts of everyday smart-glasses use and 350 videos of smart-glasses-enabled pick-up artistry, this briefing note shows that recording is often hard to detect, routinely captures bystanders, including children, and can facilitate gendered harassment. It sets out questions for Australian policymakers and law enforcement.
Our submission on the proposed Privacy Act reforms and wearable devices. It supports the new definitions of personal information and identifiability, and recommends a broader definition of sensitive information, extending the “fair and reasonable” test to individuals, confirming in law that a recording indicator does not amount to consent, and extending statutory remedies and the right to erasure to targeted recording in public and semi-public spaces.
A two-page overview of the project’s first year: findings and impact across its three research streams (smart glasses, consent and gender-based harms; child safety on Roblox; and disability and inclusion in VR/XR) and the next areas of work, from neurotechnology and wearable AI to Australia’s AI infrastructure.
An interpretive content analysis of 350 point-of-view Instagram videos posted by people associated with the pick-up artistry community. It shows how smart glasses enable what we call ambient capture, the covert recording of women in public, semi-private and private spaces that is then shared online without their consent, and finds that many of these videos had gone undetected by Instagram’s content moderation systems.
An exploratory study that found avatars, digital environments and role-play on Roblox themed around real-world violent and sexual crimes, despite the platform’s community standards. It sets out the content moderation, regulatory and policy challenges for children’s online safety in Australia.
Evidence of False Pricing, Manipulative Design, and Consumer Harm in a Children’s Digital Platform
A qualitative gameplay analysis of 15 top-earning Roblox games that documents fourteen misleading, deceptive or unfair monetisation practices used to get children to spend money. It sets out the implications for Australian consumer protection law.
Drawing on a survey of 102 respondents, 21 interviews with disabled VR users and 20 interviews with industry experts, this report shows how virtual reality design excludes people with physical, visual, neurological and cognitive impairments. It makes six recommendations for accessible VR.
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