Google Glasses privacy concerns highlighted as Seattle bar bans them

Google Glasses privacy concerns have been highlighted as a Seattle bar bans the entry of those who come wearing the high tech goggles

It is still months or even years away. But the amount of media headlines it is garnering one may be excused in thinking that the product is already in the market. It is being praised, criticised and even being banned long before it actually arrives in brick and mortar stores.

The first of its kind, a dive bar in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood has banned Google Glass which is not yet available. The 5 Point Café in Seattle posted a notice on its official Facebook page last week that if anyone wants to enter into the bar, they need to take out their $1500 worth of Google Glasses.

The Facebook post said, “For the record, The 5 Point is the first Seattle business to ban in advance Google Glasses. And ass-kickings will be encouraged for violators.” However, the bar seems too much engrossed with the technology and is just trying to gain some publicity from this stunt. The warning posted on Facebook is too early for Google to comment, as the Glass is yet to be available in the market for sale.

However, Dave Meinert, the owner of 5 Point Café, stated in an interview on Seattle’s local radio channel, “I’m a thought leader. First you have to understand the culture of the 5 Point, which is a sometimes seedy, maybe notorious place. People want to go there and be not known…and definitely don’t want to be secretly filmed or videotaped and immediately put on the Internet.”

“Part of this is a joke, to be funny on Facebook, and get reaction,” Meinert said jokingly. However, he continued, “But part of it’s serious, because we don’t let people film other people or take photos unwanted of people in the bar, because it is kind of a private place that people go.”

Meirnert, however, made clear that he is not against the product but he doesn’t want people to wear it inside his bar. ‘It’s OK if you wear them,’ said Mr Meinert of the ‘Glass’ while addressing  the tech-savvy people who visit his bar from Amazon nearby, ‘I just don’t want them worn inside.’

A Google Spokesperson said, responding to the ban on their not yet launched product, “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.”

Shortlink:

Posted by admin on March 11, 2013. Filed under Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.