Crazy, Paranoid People Unite To Fight Google Glass

The world according to people who have read ‘Shadowrun’ tie-in novels way too many times.

We’re skeptical Google Glass will gain any real traction with consumers, and one of those reason is that they would inspire mistrust. And apparently we were right, we just pegged it as the kind of mistrust that stems from “Why is this ass recording everything,” not the “Google Is BIG BROTHER!!!” kind of mistrust.

The website Stop The Cyborgs is, well, we think this paragraph sums it up pretty well:

Gradually people will stop acting as autonomous individuals, when making decisions and interacting with others, and instead become mere sensor/effector nodes of a global network. There will be no room for multiple identities, hypocrisy or experimentation. There will be no space in which you can escape your online profile and the system will be controlled by a small group of corporations.

Please note that Google has not yet officially released the details of how Google Glass will work so the above is educated speculation based on public press articles.

We assure you, that emphasis on the last line is theirs. We’re not really sure it’s educated speculation to assume Strange Days was a documentary, which is pretty much the thrust of their “thirty-five points against Google Glass”.

They also get a few things wrong: For example, they state there’s no way you’ll know if Google Glass is taking video, and that even if it isn’t Google might still be passively collecting data, both of which are pretty tricky in light if the fact that it’s got a recording light and Google arguably has learned its lesson about “passive” information gathering. Also we’re pretty sure that in order to hijack human free will Google will need something a bit more powerful than a floating screen.

Ironically, though, they do actually accidentally bring up a good point. Something that happens in public is, well, public, but that used to mean only those around you heard and saw it. Now it can go live on the Internet, and Google Glass is designed to encourage that. It’s really only a matter of time before some jerk nattering on his cell phone about something embarrassing goes viral thanks to Glass, and how people react will be an enormous test of what society views as private.

On the other hand, it seems a little drastic to assume a cyberpunk scenario is immediately going to kick in. Have a little faith in human beings, guys.