Fans of wearable computers can capture what is happening around them with a wink or a subtle click, which raises the question of whether bystanders have a say in being recorded.
Nick Bilton, who wrote this article for the NY TIMES, presents quite a stark question: What do you do at a party when someone you are talking to is wearing Google Glass? Stare at the all seeing camera, or just leave the room?
I wonder what will happen with the Google Glass future. We have accepted most of the internet’s privacy defects. We are seemingly ok with Google snapping photos of our houses .. we appear alright that every movement we make online is snapped, cataloged, and often given over to government entities for ‘national security’ reasons.. But Google Glass? A contraption that will snap your life in images? One that will also see everything you do.. and if you can see it, Google can see it? … creepy. With a capital C.
But this is the future. Where privacy isn’t existent.
It once was said that, on any given Street Corner, USA, you did not possess any true privacy. No presumption. But what about that dark corner in a bar room late on a Friday night… and someone wearing Google Glass snaps your image? Or .. in your own home .. or.. anywhere.
I have had some major problems with friends who send me “People of Walmart” jokes. Do I chuckle at the first image or two I glance at? I did. I do.. But I often send back a reply telling them to take me off of their list of folks who get these ‘jokes.’ After all, what is it that is funny about them? The odd images of people shopping late at the store…. or the souls of those who mock and degrade them..? We are just fine with people snapping photos of other people, posting them online, just to make light of their either mental or physical conditions? I am not ok with it. I never liked the People of Walmart forwards, still don’t like them… and sadly… I’m outnumbered.
You know why? Because we are going to be entering the new phase of life.. the GOOGLE GLASS phenom.
Get ready..You may be recorded .. all of them time. Without knowing it.
And what happens when People of Walmart turns into the next ‘joke’ …? What happens when your privacy has been compromised?
We may have no presumption of privacy in public places. But for God sakes, don’t we at least have a presumption that other humans will be thoughtful? Other humans .. .being thoughtful? Nah. They will simply just forward the next best joke, making light about someone else..
We are turning into a very different society than we once were..
Disruptions: At Odds Over Privacy Challenges of Wearable Computing
