British Airways is tightening its filming rules to address passengers using Meta smart glasses to secretly record employees and fellow travelers. You can still wear the glasses, but using them as a discreet camera could put the rest of your journey at risk.
According to Paddle Your Own Kanoo, British Airways has updated its rules to address covert filming with Meta AI glasses at the airport and onboard its aircraft.
The reported change builds on restrictions introduced earlier this year against photographing or filming BA employees without their consent. Livestreaming employees without permission is also prohibited.
This is not a prohibition on simply wearing the glasses. But passengers using their built-in cameras to record an interaction cannot assume that a less conspicuous device gets around the airline’s filming rules (not that I ever found the blinking white light on these less conspicuous than a cell phone).
And the potential consequences extend beyond being told to switch the camera off.
British Airways Can Refuse Your Flight And Your Return Journey
British Airways’ General Conditions of Carriage give the airline broad authority to act when passengers record employees without consent. Section 7a10, concerning refusal of carriage, includes:
“This includes filming, live streaming or taking photographs of any BA crew or other colleagues without their consent.”
Section 11a also lists recording employees without permission as unacceptable onboard behavior. BA says it can intervene to stop that conduct and, upon landing, remove the passenger and refuse transportation on the remaining sectors of the ticket.
That could include an already-booked return flight. The conditions also allow BA to report an incident to authorities for possible prosecution if a criminal offense may have occurred. Violating an airline filming policy is of course not, by itself, a crime.
While the conditions do not specifically name Meta glasses, PYOK claims this is a device-specific update. Even without that formal clarification, the existing language already gives BA a way to act against passengers who use them to film employees without permission.
I Understand Why Airlines Are Addressing This
As long as the blinking light is somehow covered or obscured, smart glasses make recording an interaction much easier without making it obvious to the people being recorded. I would not want a seatmate recording me throughout a flight. Nor do I think a flight attendant serving lunch should automatically become material for someone’s social media account.
I take hundreds of pictures when reviewing a flight, but my focus is the seat, food, amenities, and other elements of the product. If I want a photograph of a crew member from a close range, I ask. It’s not that difficult…
Still, there is a dilemma when an ordinary interaction becomes a dispute.
A recording can establish what an employee actually said or did. It can also expose a passenger who later presents a very selective account of the encounter. I would hate to see a filming restriction become a convenient way to prevent evidence of poor treatment.
But discreetly documenting a serious problem and recording every employee you encounter for content are different situations. I understand why airlines are pushing back against the latter, particularly when someone continues filming after being asked to stop.
Passengers should also remember that their assumptions about recording at home may not travel well. An airline’s conditions and the laws applicable to a particular journey may impose restrictions they have never considered, especially in the European Union.
CONCLUSION
British Airways is reportedly sharpening its rules against covert recording with Meta smart glasses, building on its prohibition against filming employees without consent.
You can still wear the glasses. But using them to record staff without permission can lead to much more than an uncomfortable conversation: BA’s conditions allow it to refuse further transportation, including the remaining flights on your ticket. While the privacy concern is understandably, BA should apply the policy with enough judgment to distinguish an intrusive content creator from a passenger trying to document a legitimate problem.
image: British Airways
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