Seattle bar preemptively bans Google Glass
In a future where people could soon be wearing a personal computer in the form of eyeglasses, complete with the ability to discretely record video and capture photos, privacy is already a concern. It’s enough of a concern, too, that The 5 Point Cafe in Seattle has preemptively banned its patrons from wearing Google Glass under threat of “ass kickings…for violators.”
The news was posted on the bar’s Facebook page, and aside from the viral marketing angle (subsequent posts go on to mock those wearing glass as “complete idiot[s]”), owner Dave Meinert may have a point. Folks going out to enjoy themselves don’t necessarily want to feel like their every move could be secretly recorded. To that we say think of all the cameras that are already recording your every move. From security cameras to the less discrete iPhone photographers, a night out on the town hardly goes undocumented these days.
At least pulling out a cell phone to take a picture is a bit more obvious, but it hasn’t stopped folks from grabbing unsolicited photos in the past. Still, the ban of Project Glass should serve to get the privacy conversation going. It just wouldn’t be a new Google product without some concern about the misuse of personal or private data.
[via PhoneArena]