All Legal & Institutional articles
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Meta tightens AI glasses' privacy LED as venue bans multiply
Meta VP of AR Alex Himel announced on Threads last week that Meta is closing a known loophole in its AI glasses’ privacy system. Previously, the capture LED only blocked recording if covered before it started; users could begin filming, then cover the light to keep recording covertly. Himel said ...
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France weighs ad ban for eyewear and hearing aids, industry pushes back
France’s government has stepped up efforts to ban advertising for eyeglasses and hearing aids, meeting opticians’, audioprosthetists’ and manufacturers’ unions on September 4. Participants said the text of a ministerial order appeared largely finalized before the meeting, and objected to the lack of prior consultation as much as to the ...
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Meta agrees to pay up to $17bn over social media addiction claims
Meta reached a settlement Wednesday with a coalition of 29 US state attorneys general, ending a federal trial in Oakland, California over allegations that Facebook and Instagram were designed to be addictive to minors. Meta will pay up to $17 billion in penalties over ten years, though roughly 5 billion ...
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ArticleMigraine lens maker gets FDA approval to establish category
Avulux – trade name of Matap II LLC (Aventura, Florida) – has received De Novo authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Migraine & Light Sensitivity Lenses. De Novo authorization establishes a device category. Avulux’s product, for precision optical filters, defines the predicate for future devices ...
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ZEISS wins FDA clearance for cloud-based patient data platform
Carl Zeiss Meditec has received 510(k) clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration for ZEISS CLINIC 360, a cloud-based software platform for ophthalmology practices. The system pulls together diagnostic imaging data, electronic medical records and other practice information into a single patient view, allowing clinicians to track disease progression ...
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Gentle Monster’s K-eyewear challenger reportedly lands €60m investment deal
Affirma Capital Managers Korea, a private equity fund, has signed a 100 billion won (€61m) investment agreement with South Korean eyewear brand Blue Elephant, valuing the company at 400 billion won (€244m), according to Seoul Economic Daily, citing venture industry sources. Once completed, Affirma Capital is expected to hold a ...
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News briefsGerman digital-rights group takes on the smart-glasses supply chain
HateAid, the Berlin digital-rights group, has filed a criminal complaint against the management of Meta, the brands Ray-Ban and Oakley (both EssilorLuxottica units), and four retailers: Fielmann, Apollo-Optik (also part of EssilorLuxottica), Mister Spex and MediaMarkt. Filed Aug. 12 with Frankfurt’s cybercrime unit, ZIT, the complaint targets the Ray-Ban Meta ...
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HOYA top executive elected president of European optical industries federation EUROM 1
Oliver Fischbach, senior vice president Western Europe & North America at Hoya Vision Care and a SPECTARIS representative, was elected president of EUROM 1 Optical Industries at the federation’s general assembly in Naples on July 29, 2026, SPECTARIS announced. Fischbach previously led EUROM 1 from 2017 to 2020. SPECTARIS managing ...
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ArticleItaly eyewear exports fall 6.1% in Q1 as US market continues to shrink
The value of Italian eyewear exports in the first quarter of 2026 fell by 6.1 percent to €1.34 billion, as another sharp decline in sales to the US was only partly offset by gains in Europe and other markets, according to figures from Italian eyewear trade association Anfao. Exports to ...
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Optical sector tops France’s health insurance fraud rankings
France’s optical sector accounted for 53 percent of all fraud detected by supplementary health insurers (“mutuelles”) in 2025 — roughly €59 million — far ahead of dental care (15 percent) and hearing aids (8 percent), according to the annual report from Alfa, the country’s insurance anti-fraud agency. Total detected fraud ...
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EU eases battery rules for smart glasses, other wearables
The European Commission adopted a delegated act on July 14 exempting smart glasses and other wearable devices from EU rules requiring user-removable batteries. Under the Batteries Regulation, portable batteries must generally be removable and replaceable by consumers — but the new rules add six product categories to the existing exemption ...
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Italy’s Anfao launches meeting series on economic, geopolitical challenges
The Italian eyewear trade association Anfao and the Belluno Dolomiti chapter of the Italian business association Confindustria launched a new series of meetings entitled Scenari – Tomorrow’s Challenges to explore economic and geopolitical challenges. The meeting series was developed in collaboration with the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI). ...
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China issues guidelines for AI glasses
The China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), a research institute under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, has issued a code of conduct for AI glasses brands operating in the country, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) and other media. The code, which is voluntary, ...
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Spectaris appoints new head of Consumer Optics division
Spectaris, the German optical industry association, has appointed Stephan Schenk, a seasoned executive with extensive experience in optometry and communications, as head of its Consumer Optics division, effective July 8, 2026. Schenk joins from hellomateo, a Berlin-based B2B software company enabling local businesses to centralize customer messaging and automate communication ...
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The ABDO announces leadership changes
The Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO) has appointed Brenda Rennie at its new President, succeeding Kevin Gutsell. After having worked as a van driver at the start of her professional life, Rennie changed career and became a qualified dispensing optician in 2001 through distance learning. She became ABDO’s first ...
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ArticleFrance unclear on, wary of smart glasses, survey shows
At least in France, smart glasses are misunderstood, feared and associated with a single model. So says a recent survey, Les Français et les lunettes connectées (in French), published by France’s National Commission on IT and Liberties (CNIL). Conducted online by consumer-research firm Toluna Harris, the survey polled 2,128 French ...
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EssilorLuxottica partners with NPO on ocular surface health
EssilorLuxottica has entered into a strategic partnership with the Tear Film & Ocular Surface Society (TFOS), an international NPO supporting research and education in ocular surface health, particularly on dry eye disease and its impact on various eye surgeries. As part of the agreement, the Franco-Italian group is sponsoring a ...
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Meta urged to drop reported facial recognition plans
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a U.S. civil‑rights and civil‑liberties organization, led a coalition of over 70 such organizations in sending an open letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, urging him to abandon plans to add facial recognition to the company’s smart eyewear. The coalition argues that smart glasses ...
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UK's Optical Suppliers Association joins Healthcare from the Eye
The UK’s Optical Suppliers Association (OSA) has announced it has joined The Alliance for Healthcare from the Eye to promote the ethical adoption of oculomics, the leveraging of ocular data for earlier disease risk identification. The organzation stressed that the new field is fostering a shift from reactive treatments to ...
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Blue Elephant representative reportedly behind bars in Gentle Monster IP infringement case
The legal dispute between Gentle Monster and Blue Elephant, two Korean eyewear brands, has taken an unusually dramatic turn as “Choi,” the representative of the latter company, was arrested and indicted last week on charges including violation of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act, according to The Chosun Daily. As previously ...
