By Rhiannon Saegert/managing editor
In a world rapidly growing more and more transparent, it isn’t hard to see why Google Glass is the final straw for so many people.
The idea of people walking around with cameras on their heads, possibly recording, possibly not, is unnerving to say the least.
The reverse, the possibility of some stranger tapping in and watching the world through an unsuspecting Glass-wearer’s eyes, is equally scary.
Google has already stated that no facial-recognition apps will be developed, but that doesn’t stop other people from creating them. It isn’t just “Who watches the watchmen?” Now, it’s “Who watches the watchmen watch us watching the watchmen watchers?”
If being watched is a concern, there’s plenty to be concerned about, but there’s no sense running from Glass. We’ve already been thoroughly creeped on by our social media, our Web browsers and our government.
We’re already there. Resistance is futile. Glass just allows creeps to creep a little more efficiently.
No one liked it when Facebook and Google started tracking interests and hand-picking ads based on the websites users visited, but how many people actually stopped using Facebook and Google?
Phones can watch and be watched. Personal information can be stolen from a computer as the recent Heartbleed scare reminded us. Covert, compromising photos can be taken and uploaded to the Internet in seconds, throwing lives into chaos in a quick, convenient manner.
Critics see Glass as a symbol, the answer to horrifying what-if scenarios posed by a thousand sci-fi novels and clichés. But this particular story is more Huxleyan than Orwellian.
Google Glass wasn’t forced on the world by a vague-yet-menacing government. It was pitched to people who eagerly bought it.
With new technology comes new concerns. Google Glass raises questions that have to be addressed when, not if, Glass catches on. If Glass is a catalyst for new laws regarding personal information, privacy and surveillance, it won’t be because Glass poses a unique threat.
Maybe now we’ll all remember to read the Terms and Conditions.
