Cambridge students walked into their first day of classes this week to a new rule: leave the smart glasses, Apple Watches and any other covert recording gear at home. The Cambridge School Committee voted to prohibit smart glasses and other wearable technology across all district schools, and the ban took effect immediately.
The measure was proposed by committee member Arjun Jaikumar and co-sponsored by Luisa de Paula Santos and Vice Chair Caitlin Dube, according to Cambridge Day. During deliberations, the committee expanded the ban's language beyond smart glasses to cover other devices capable of covert recording, including Apple Watches, the outlet reported. As WBZ NewsRadio reported, Jaikumar said wearable technology “has been used elsewhere to spy on people, creep on people, and bully people.”
The rule specifically targets non-cell-phone devices that can be worn and can record without being obvious, per WBZ's reporting. Wearable technology can capture people without a second party's consent, the station noted, a concern that lines up directly with Massachusetts law. Under the state's wiretap statute, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 272, § 99, secretly recording an in-person or electronic conversation without the consent of all parties is a felony punishable by up to five years in state prison, according to Romano Law.
A Ban With Built-In Exceptions
The committee's vote came during the first regular meeting of the 2026–2027 school year, on September 1, as Interim Superintendent Dave Murphy delivered opening-day updates covering the district's 17 schools, per the same Cambridge Day account. School officials called the ban a starting point rather than a final answer, according to WBZ's reporting, and the policy carves out exceptions for medical and disability needs. Jaikumar said the policy is not permanent and allows flexibility for legitimate or important educational uses of wearable technology, the station reported.
Cambridge Public Schools is also developing a broader district-wide AI and technology policy, WBZ noted. An internal working group is expected to issue districtwide guidance on artificial intelligence by October, which could set firmer boundaries on how staff and students use AI tools, Cambridge Day reported.
Part Of A Bigger Tech Crackdown
The wearable ban builds on tech restrictions Cambridge had already put in place before students returned this fall. Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, the city's sole public high school, adopted a strict bell-to-bell cell phone policy requiring students to lock phones in Yondr pouches for the entire school day, Cambridge Day reported in March. In December 2025, the School Committee also commissioned an audit of screen usage across all 17 district schools to weigh potential limits on classroom screen time for elementary students, according to the outlet's reporting.
State lawmakers have been moving in a similar direction. In April, the Massachusetts State Legislature enacted a law prohibiting social media use for children under age 14, adding to a wave of state-level restrictions on youth digital access, Cambridge Day reported. Murphy has led Cambridge Public Schools as interim superintendent since July 2024 following a leadership transition by the School Committee, as Hoodline previously reported.
Cambridge Joins A National Pattern
Cambridge is far from alone in moving against smart eyewear and covert recording gear in institutional settings. The College Board explicitly bars smart glasses and other internet-connected eyewear from SAT test centers nationwide and authorizes proctors to inspect suspicious frames for hidden cameras or AI communication features, a policy Hoodline detailed in its coverage of a Silicon Valley district weighing its own classroom ban on AI “cheat” glasses. Outside K-12 education, the New York State Unified Court System barred smart glasses from all state court facilities in July, citing unauthorized recording risks, Hoodline reported in its coverage of Polk County, Florida schools banning Ray-Ban Meta glasses over similar cheating and spying concerns.
Other districts have wrestled with the same technology this year, including Hillsborough County Public Schools, which faced its own classroom crackdown proposal over AI smart glasses. For now, Cambridge's rule stands as an immediate, districtwide prohibition, with officials signaling that the fuller picture of how the city manages student AI and wearable tech use will come into focus once the administration's working group issues its guidance.
