Google Glass Already Banned In Many Places Months Ahead Of Release

2013-04-15 30

One of Google's latest projects, Google Glass, isn't even available yet, but some businesses and establishments are already preemptively banning the product!Google Glass is a pair of glasses connected to the internet that allow you to take pictures, record videos, and access the internet hands free, right in front of your eyes.You can shop, check the weather, check your email, video chat, send messages and pretty much everything else you would do online.Co-founder of Google, Sergey Brin, announced Google Glass last year, and it's clear he has high hopes for the augmented reality glasses. It sounds cool, but I have to admit, they do look pretty silly, and they are raising some serious privacy concerns.So, let's go over the places you are NOT allowed to wear the smart glasses you can't even buy yet…It all started with a bar in Seattle called the 5 Point Café, who decided to ban Google Glass ahead of its release date later this year, mainly as a publicity stunt or social statement.The posted a message on their Facebook page that read ‘For the record, the 5 Point is the first Seattle business to ban in advance Google Glass. And [butt] kickings will be encouraged for violators.”Some casinos and strip clubs, in places like Las Vegas and elsewhere, have banned Google Glass, along with other electronics patrons can use for filming.Some major movie theaters, including Regal Entertainment Group, have banned Google Glass, which makes sense seeing as how no recording devices are every permitted inside a movie theater.Cars are also an issue. Legislators in West Virginia have already proposed an amendment that bans Google Glass or any head-mounted display while driving.There is even an organization called ‘Stop The Cyborgs' founded in response to the Google Glass project. Their aim is to stop a future in which privacy is impossible.They are calling on Google to ban face recognition systems for the glasses, asking them to implement a ‘do not track system,' and promise that all information gather by Glass will remain the property of the owner or subject. And that information will be encrypted so that it is impossible for it to be data-mined.If you'd like more information about the ‘Stop The Cyborgs' movement, visit stopthecyborgs.org.Many companies are not ready to make a statement regarding the new Google technology, but as a generic rule, if an establishment doesn't allow cameras/photos/video, it's pretty safe to say they won't welcome Google Glass.Google actually responded to these recent events surrounding Google Glass, telling Forbes, “It is still very early days for Glass, and we expect that as with other new technologies, such as cell phones, behaviors and social norms will develop over time.”