The New York smartglasses court ban, effective 20 July 2026, extends to every one of the state’s 1,240 courtrooms and marks the broadest institutional prohibition on AI-powered eyewear yet seen in the United States, widening a trend that began in the travel sector with Delta Air Lines.
The move places New York State alongside a small but growing list of organisations, airlines, and cruise operators that have moved to restrict Meta Ray-Bans and comparable devices on privacy and security grounds. Delta remains the sole U.S. carrier to have banned flight attendants from wearing smartglasses, a rule it introduced quietly in July 2025. Southwest Airlines has since followed, though enforcement frameworks across the two carriers differ.
New York court order and the vouchering requirement
The formal instrument for the New York smartglasses court ban is a memorandum issued on 1 July 2026 by Justin Barry, Executive Director of the New York State Unified Court System’s Office of Court Administration, according to the Workplace Privacy Report. Under that directive, no visitor may bring smart glasses or any eyewear or headwear equipped with cameras, microphones, or other recording technology into any New York state courthouse.
Crucially, the order goes further than a simple prohibition at the door. Any individual found in possession of smart glasses will not be permitted to enter a New York Unified Court System facility unless they voucher the device for safekeeping with uniformed personnel, to be held until the individual leaves the premises. Visitors who wear prescription lenses housed in a smartglasses frame are being asked to present an alternative pair of eyewear as a condition of entry.
Prior to the directive, existing rules already prohibited audio recording, video recording, broadcasting, and streaming inside New York courtrooms, but no specific provision addressed AI-enabled eyewear. A photograph of the ban notice was shared from the Honorable James C. Torney III Criminal Courthouse in Syracuse.
Delta’s ban and the airline sector’s cautious stance
Delta’s July 2025 ban on smartglasses for flight attendants was confirmed at the time by a Delta spokesperson, who stated the decision followed a ‘continuous evaluation of the landscape to ensure the safety and security of our people and global operation.’ Staff may not wear the glasses unless specifically directed to by the airline. According to Paddle Your Own Kanoo, Delta remains the sole U.S. carrier to enforce the rule in this form, even as momentum builds in adjacent sectors.
The current posture stands in contrast to proposals from earlier in the decade. Air New Zealand explored smartglasses for cabin crew back in 2017 as a means of surfacing passenger preferences for meals and beverages. Virgin Atlantic similarly explored using the devices to surface real-time operational information. Neither initiative resulted in the kind of blanket operational deployment that would now require a comparable ban.
Cruise lines divided on smartglasses policy
In the cruise sector, policy has moved faster than in aviation. MSC Cruises placed smartglasses on its list of prohibited items and confirmed that devices found to be misused would be confiscated. ‘Smartglasses and similar devices are listed among prohibited items to ensure our security teams can intervene and confiscate the device if misuse occurs,’ MSC said in a statement, adding that the measure exists ‘solely to protect the privacy and safety of all guests and crew.’
Royal Caribbean has taken a more granular approach, permitting smartglasses on board but restricting their use to areas where no reasonable expectation of privacy exists. The prohibited zones under Royal Caribbean’s policy include the casino, spa service areas, restrooms, locker rooms, medical facilities, security screening locations, youth facilities, back-of-house tours, and crew areas.
Disney has adopted an opposing stance. Walt Disney Imagineering President and CEO Bruce Vaughn told USA Today he viewed smartglasses as less distracting than a smartphone. ‘I never forget that you’re around me. I never forget that I’m in Disneyland or in whatever world I’m in,’ Vaughn said. The company’s position reflects a genuine split among major travel operators over where AI-enabled eyewear sits on the spectrum between useful guest tool and privacy risk.
The New York directive takes effect on 20 July 2026, the date Justin Barry’s memorandum set as the operational start of the statewide prohibition across all Unified Court System facilities.
