On Thursday night's episode of The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, Jason Jones did a segment on Google Glass. People wearing Google Glass are sometimes asked to leave bars and restaurants and harassed by people in public places. Here is the current link to it: http://www.hulu.com/watch/648837#i1,p0,d1
There are two sides to this debate. On one side, one could say that people who are wearing Google Glass are being discriminated against. After all, they are being kicked out of public places and harassed while not doing anything illegal.
On the other hand, people say that Google Glass can violate people's privacy. You can videotape them and photograph them without their consent.
I am not really sure where I stand on this debate. I think that violating anyone's privacy is ethically wrong and creepy, but I am not sure that it is necessarily illegal when you are in public. After all, it is legal to photograph and film people in public places in many cases. Would Google Glass really allow you to do something that you could not do with your smartphone?
On the other hand, having the camera on your face makes it easier to hide what you are doing. If you see someone pointing a phone at you for a long period of time, you can know they're filming or photographing you. If they're just looking at you while wearing Google Glass, you cannot really tell what they're doing. If Google Glass becomes more common, anyone in your vicinity could be filming you without your consent. The easier access to the camera could also cause an increase in illegal pictures being taken. For example, in many states and places it is illegal to film underneath a person's clothing (for example, down a woman's blouse or underneath a skirt). If a woman leans over in either direction near someone wearing Google Glass and there is a momentary flash of private areas, it would be very easy for them to take an illegal photo of that woman.
Despite all the scary things that technology can do and despite where I end up on the "Google Glass" debate, I still think that technology has done more good for the world than harm (though it does its fair share of harm) and that is one of the reasons I work in the field of IT.
There are two sides to this debate. On one side, one could say that people who are wearing Google Glass are being discriminated against. After all, they are being kicked out of public places and harassed while not doing anything illegal.
On the other hand, people say that Google Glass can violate people's privacy. You can videotape them and photograph them without their consent.
I am not really sure where I stand on this debate. I think that violating anyone's privacy is ethically wrong and creepy, but I am not sure that it is necessarily illegal when you are in public. After all, it is legal to photograph and film people in public places in many cases. Would Google Glass really allow you to do something that you could not do with your smartphone?
On the other hand, having the camera on your face makes it easier to hide what you are doing. If you see someone pointing a phone at you for a long period of time, you can know they're filming or photographing you. If they're just looking at you while wearing Google Glass, you cannot really tell what they're doing. If Google Glass becomes more common, anyone in your vicinity could be filming you without your consent. The easier access to the camera could also cause an increase in illegal pictures being taken. For example, in many states and places it is illegal to film underneath a person's clothing (for example, down a woman's blouse or underneath a skirt). If a woman leans over in either direction near someone wearing Google Glass and there is a momentary flash of private areas, it would be very easy for them to take an illegal photo of that woman.
Despite all the scary things that technology can do and despite where I end up on the "Google Glass" debate, I still think that technology has done more good for the world than harm (though it does its fair share of harm) and that is one of the reasons I work in the field of IT.
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