Punjab Decides Complete Ban on Spy Gadgets With Hidden Cameras, Glasses, Pens and Watches All Covered, Strict Action Promised

LAHORE: The Punjab spy gadgets decision is now official. The provincial government will impose a complete ban on devices fitted with hidden cameras and recording equipment — glasses, pens, watches and other everyday objects that can quietly film or listen — and it says anyone using, buying or selling them will face strict legal action.

Why the government moved

A spokesperson for the Punjab Home Department said complaints had been piling up: illegal surveillance, harassment, and people being blackmailed with secretly recorded material. The ban, the spokesperson said, is meant to protect citizens’ privacy and personal information, with the safety of women and children singled out in particular. The government says safeguarding fundamental rights and private life is its responsibility, and it has warned the public that the illegal use of everyday items fitted with hidden cameras will attract strict penalties.

What is still missing

One part of the picture is blank for now. The Home Department’s statement does not say when the ban takes effect, under which law it will be enforced, or what the penalties will be. The decision has been announced; the working detail has not. That matters, because camera glasses and similar gadgets are openly on sale in markets, and both shopkeepers and buyers will be watching for the rules before they know exactly where they stand.

The courts had already asked

The government was not the only institution looking at this. Last month a citizen petitioned the Lahore High Court for safeguards against smart glasses being used to record people without their knowledge, and last week the court asked the government whether it even knew such glasses were being sold in shops and what it had done about it. With the provincial decision now taken, the real test is simpler: whether the ban travels from the announcement to the shop counter.