Looks like even Google is finally figuring out the innate privacy invasive properties of its wearable computing device, Google Glass. The Internet giant has posted a list of do’s and don’t's on its Glass website that tells “Explorers” — the first group of people to get access to Glass for $1,500 — how not to be “Glassholes.”
You’ll recall that Chairman Eric Schmidt once said it was Google’s policy to get right up to the “creepy line,” but not to cross it. It seems pretty clear that some Googlers have figured out that Glass has crossed the line and are attempting a rowback.
From the list of Do’s:
Ask for permission.
Standing alone in the corner of a room staring at people while recording them through Glass is not going to win you any friends (see Don’ts #4). The Glass camera function is no different from a cell phone so behave as you would with your phone and ask permission before taking photos or videos of others.
And here’s Google’s final point on the list of Don’t's:
Be creepy or rude (aka, a ‘Glasshole’).
Respect others and if they have questions about Glass don’t get snappy. Be polite and explain what Glass does and remember, a quick demo can go a long way. In places where cell phone cameras aren’t allowed, the same rules will apply to Glass. If you’re asked to turn your phone off, turn Glass off as well. Breaking the rules or being rude will not get businesses excited about Glass and will ruin it for other Explorers.
You may have seen that Virgin Atlantic staff who greet “Upper Class” passengers — the airline’s name for First Class– as they arrive at Heathrow Airport are now sporting Glass purportedly to offer them information on such things as the weather at their destination.
How long do you think it will be before they are recording and videoing arriving passengers and maybe even linking it to facial recognition technology? Just, what we need, right? First Class “Glassholes.”
Posted by John Simpson, Privacy Project Director at Consumer Watchdog.
