Australian privacy regulator opens formal probe into Shenzhen Qingcheng over smart glasses data handling

Privacy Commissioner opens formal investigation into Shenzhen Qingcheng

Australia's Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has commenced a formal investigation into Shenzhen Qingcheng, the Chinese software company behind the HeyCyan application used in Anko's $89 smart glasses. Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind announced the probe after the company failed to answer inquiries about how videos and photographs recorded by the glasses are stored and who can access them, with the OAIC stating it had "no assurance" that the firm is "protecting personal data of Australians as required by the Privacy Act."

HeyCyan app and the Anko smart glasses at the center of the probe

The HeyCyan app connects smart glasses to other devices via Bluetooth and supports recording, music playback, and call answering. It is the software used in Anko-branded camera glasses that sold out at Kmart Australia in August, and the same app appears in other low-cost smart-glasses products listed on Big W Marketplace and Amazon. The product listings, advertised at that price point, disappeared from Kmart websites following the regulator's action.

Regulatory powers and the unanswered information requests

Kind said the investigation is intended to allow her to "utilise my full range of powers to examine this issue, including issuing compulsory information gathering notices." The commissioner had reached out in August to several manufacturers and distributors of smart glasses to clarify how recorded data is stored and who may access it, and characterized Shenzhen Qingcheng's silence on those questions as raising "concerns about the entity's practices, procedures and systems to protect the personal information it holds."

Wider context of cheap smart glasses entering the Australian market

The investigation comes amid a sharp rise in low-cost AI-equipped smart glasses reaching Australian retailers, a trend that supporters cite as life-changing for users with disabilities and that regulators describe as requiring closer scrutiny over privacy. The formal probe follows the Kmart sell-out in August and the appearance of similar products on other online marketplaces, with the OAIC focusing on the software supplier rather than the retailers themselves.

Unresolved questions for Shenzhen Qingcheng and retailers

It remains unclear when Shenzhen Qingcheng will respond to the OAIC's compulsory information-gathering notices or what the regulator may require if nonresponse continues, including whether the app could be ordered to alter its data-handling or whether retailers may need to delist affected products. The status of the now-vanished Kmart listings, and whether other Australian retailers carrying HeyCyan-enabled glasses will also adjust availability, is not addressed in the available reporting.