Google Glasses: Will You Want Google Tracking Your Eyes?
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Image Credit: Google
The world was stunned by the first real look at Google’s Project Glass. In a video released by the search giant, we got a a captivating look at how its glasses could help you get a weather forecast by looking up at the sky, or find out about subway delays just by standing outside the station.
But while many were blown away at the video Google released Wednesday, others started to ponder what Google could ultimately do with the technology.
One of those people was Jonathan McIntosh, who calls himself a pop culture hacker and transformative storyteller. McIntosh put together the video below. It is based on the one released by Google, but with ads overlying everything one saw in Google’s video.
“To be honest, when I first saw the Google Glasses video I thought that was really cool,” he said. “But a moment later, I thought, ‘Oh God, there are some very serious implications in terms of privacy and data mining.’”
Google has, of course, been collecting data for a long time. They know what you search, who you email (if you use its Gmail), what you watch on YouTube, and where you’re going if you use Google Maps. It uses that information to provide more personalized search results as well as more targeted advertising.
That advertising part is a big piece of the puzzle. It’s ultimately how the company makes money. The Internet giant states in its policy that it “makes money without doing evil” with your personal data.
“Google’s an ad company. I think it’s something people should be mindful of and critical of, especially in the frame of these awesome new glasses,” McIntosh said.
A former Google exec, James Whittaker, recently wrote about how Google’s mission was becoming too focused on ads and competing with Facebook’s targeted ads. He left to go work at Microsoft. Additionally, on March 1, 2012 Google’s privacy policy was changed to allow the data collected from your activity to be shared across its services.
Peter Swire, a privacy and cybersecurity expert and professor at Ohio State, has similar worries when it comes to the glasses. “Advertising won’t skip this platform, but there will be ongoing battles about how pervasive the ads will be and how users will turn them off.”
Swire also brings up the tracking issue of the glasses and the fact that Google’s Android software does not give the user a choice about location tracking for each app; it’s a system-wide setting. “Will Google Glasses use the same all-or-nothing approach?” Swine asked. “We have got ‘Do not Call’ and ‘Do not Track;’ we will see if we get ‘Do not See.’”
Of course it is too early to tell what Google will do with the glasses. The company wouldn’t comment on advertising in Project Glass. It has said the glasses are merely prototypes right now, although it does plan to start testing them in public this summer.
Jeff Jarvis, a media journalist and author of “What Would Google Do?” gave an answer that Google probably would about its glasses: “You don’t have to wear them if you don’t want to.”
Google’s Vic Gundotra, senior VP of social business at Google gave a similar answer when asked about tracking and privacy issues related to its Google+ social network in March.
Obviously, there are additional issues that come along with such a groundbreaking technology that is so different from the pocketable devices we are used to. You can imagine them: driving with the glasses on, bringing the glasses into a restricted space, etc.
“Are there potential bad uses?” Jarvis said. “Sure there are, but I think I trust society’s intelligence to figure it out. I say Google’s still a good actor.”
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Joanna, as a fan of your work from way back, I’m disappointed that you took the scary angle on this story. There are already plenty of voices harping on the evils of technology. Why not focus on some of the positive things Project Glasses will enable?
Posted by: Michael Goodness | April 5, 2012, 7:28 pm 7:28 pm
Hey Joanna…. BOO!
This “sky is falling” mentality in media is really annoying.
Posted by: Randy Rathbun | April 5, 2012, 7:54 pm 7:54 pm
As a journalist, aren’t you supposed to be providing a balanced perspective on things, rather than attempting to sway the reader by giving a one-sided story? Just give us the facts – good and bad – and the readers will make up their minds.
Posted by: Tim Mason | April 5, 2012, 7:56 pm 7:56 pm
We took that angle as well. I was just writing something around the videos that have popped up. I am very excited about this technology, but there’s nothing wrong with speaking to people that are worried about how it may be used.
Posted by: Joanna Stern | April 5, 2012, 7:58 pm 7:58 pm
Joanna… how? Three paragraphs of “yeah, this stuff is cool!” along with eleven longer paragraphs of “the internet is evil! Be scared of technology” nonsense? I even see some “Well, that’s what THEY say” humbug in here as well. Absolutely disgusting.
Posted by: Randy Rathbun | April 5, 2012, 8:17 pm 8:17 pm
I can see the Google promotion team is out in full force to discredit any criticism. Believe it or not, some people wouldn’t mind a little privacy. It should not be an expectation to be spied on each and every time you click a link. Accepting that it is universally done is a lazy way to take a path down an ugly and slippery slope.
Posted by: dan | April 5, 2012, 9:47 pm 9:47 pm
Oh god, now i’m going to have ads popping up in front of my face? Driving along and BAM! FLORIDA TRAVEL AGENCIES IN YOUR AREA! No. Thanks.
Posted by: Ryan | April 5, 2012, 10:36 pm 10:36 pm
Really now, a brand new, potentially revolutionary technology and all you can blather on about is the potential for there to be a negative.
This is why nobody takes big media seriously anymore.
Posted by: Shayne | April 5, 2012, 11:16 pm 11:16 pm
Yet another fear mongering journalist. By her own words, the glasses aren’t even the problem, it is the corporate advertising culture we live in.
This is like fearing a new model of city bus because somebody might stick ads on the sides and tvs with ads inside. Oh no! the bus is evil! Fear it!
It is the ads that are evil Joanna, not the medium in which they are delivered.
Posted by: Doug | April 6, 2012, 8:05 am 8:05 am
Weak sauce…you went for the FUD.
Posted by: Michael | April 6, 2012, 9:02 am 9:02 am
A fear-based piece on technology… what a surprise. /sarcasm
Posted by: Joseph Ratliff | April 6, 2012, 11:01 am 11:01 am
It seems rather silly to me. Need them to look out the window and determine the temp? Why not just open the window and feel for yourself. Not to mention it’s a little creepy. In the video I saw you could use them to track down someone elses location who had the glasses. Think of the not so good ways that feature could be used….and why would you want a device that enables anyone to contact you at anytime, nobody likes privacy anymore? I just don’t get it. When watching the video demonstration, it made me feel as though I was watching the next Sims game. I don’t want to feel like I am living in a game. I feel sad for the world. People are becoming entirely too obsessed with and dependent on technology. It’s bad enough people walk around constantly hooked to ipads and iphones. Doesn’t anyone know how to live without the web anymore? I think many would not even begin to know what to do if they lost access to the internet because they are so out of touch with reality. I know people who can’t go a day without being online, even when they are supposed to be out having fun in real life, they are enamored of their internet device and miss so much that is happening right in front of them. Real things. People are online talking and texting when they are in the presence of others who they should be spending time with. The more gadgets you clutter your life with, the more you will miss out on real moments and real life.
Posted by: Chimchimeree | April 7, 2012, 10:42 am 10:42 am
These are just silly. The more time you spend online, the more you miss out on real life.
Posted by: chimchimeree | April 7, 2012, 10:45 am 10:45 am
This isn’t even the proper video, this has been edited.
You should be ashamed of this article, you don’t even provide a link or offer to show the actual video.
(and yes you state it has been edited, but you also know many will scroll to watch it before reading)
Unbelievable bias here, you are a horrible person for authoring this, and ABS is horrible for publishing it.
Bring back real journalism.
Posted by: Ash | April 8, 2012, 2:22 pm 2:22 pm
Seriously? Why all the FUD? This is the first time I came to a big news site (ABC) and this honestly is the reason I stopped watching the news and going to big news sites years ago. LAME, just because *YOU* are afraid YOUR advertising dollars may be sacrificed YOU poo-poo all over any competing platform. That’s right, scare us into staying here… Bye
Posted by: Andrew | April 9, 2012, 4:26 pm 4:26 pm
Most of the comments are clearly coming from Google employees. This is a legitimate downside of the product being discussed, no sane person would respond by trash talking the journalist for being a real journalist and writing about the fact this item is a loaded gun.
The item IS a loaded gun. And, what the journalist focused on isn’t even why. The real why is that it is clearly going to kill people via distracting them too much (car accidents galore, not just from using them while driving, but from using them while walking, as John Stewart pointed out), it will clearly kill relationships and outcast its users (Talking to your glasses? In public? Using the internet to find someone you could see where is by simply looking for them with the eyes you were born with? Etc.), AND… Anyone who wants to spy on you, whether the government, or a stalker, won’t have to tap phones, stalk, or use hidden cameras anymore. Oh, no. With this device, they only have to hack into one thing, which is probably easy to hack. Even if they give it tight security (which they probably won’t even be able to do), the way to hack it will be spread at the speed of lightening.
Posted by: AnonymousArizonan | April 11, 2012, 12:22 pm 12:22 pm