24 Apr Google Glass Creating Legal Issues

Unless you’ve been under a virtual holographic rock, you know that Google is later this year to widely market Glass, a pair of glasses with a built-in computer that you direct with voice commands to check your email, go on the Internet and take photos and videos. Besides the many humorous potential implications (a great online video shows a man being “helped” by information through his Glass as he makes his way through a date), there are serious legal issues that the new product creates. This is just the start of the nascent “wearable technology” world which will include smart watches and much more.

It looks like most states will be able to use existing laws, for example, to prevent you from using Glass while driving, according to the ABA Journal Tech Weekly. You would think this is noncontroversial, but some have complained that Glass could give you spoken driving directions, and there’s an app being developed that can wake you up if you doze. There are also concerns about the ability to unobtrusively take a photo or video, and some bars, restaurants and theaters have already banned the device. Even inadvertently recording a conversation could violate a number of states’ wiretapping laws prohibiting an unapproved recording of a two-way discussion. In fact, some commentators are already declaring the product dead because of its funny look, high price (currently $1500) and privacy issues.

What’s next? One expert thinks contact lenses or even retinal implants with tiny computers and screens could be developed. That will really send the lawmakers into a tizzy! Of course many positive and exciting things come from wearable technology so let’s watch (pun intended) and see!