Safety and Privacy

There have been questions raised about the safety and privacy of these glasses.  The etiquette behind using such technology in public is not written in stone, as this is the first time such technology has really been used.  Like cell phones, the ability to record your surroundings is at the users fingertips.  Unlike cell phones, though, recording is slightly more discreet as it is being done from the glasses, and not a phone held in the hand.  This becomes a privacy issue for those in the vicinity of the user.  People do not care for being recorded without their consent, and it's difficult to obtain consent from those surrounding you while you're making a life-log recording (Jacquemard, Novitzky, O'brolcháin, Smeaton, & Gordijn, 2014).  It is also thought that any recordings could be confiscated by government and corporations and be used as surveillance (Jacquemard, et. all, 2014)  While that may seem extreme, it is just one of the number of privacy concerns people have about this technology.

            Safety issues are also a concern.  There are laws that limit the usage of cell phones while driving, but there are none for smart glasses.  This is because the technology is still not fully developed, and it's difficult to make regulations on something that is not in use yet.  That hasn't stopped some government bodies, such as the government in the United Kingdom.  Smart glasses have already been banned while driving (Millward, 2013).  In West Virginia, state Representative Gary G. Howell moved to change the current texting while driving law to include "using a wearable computer with head mounted display (Griggs, 2013)."  Because the glasses could impede an individual's line of sight, they could pose as a distraction much like texting.