Google claims you have to be staring at someone to record them with Glass

The Google Glass team has moved to defend their creation against privacy concerns, saying that it was a top priority from the moment they conceptualised it.

“Privacy was top of mind as we designed the product,” Product Director for Google Glass Steven Lee said during a fireside chat with developers during Google I/O.

According to Lee, early prototypes of Glass covered the eye but the team quickly realised that eye contact was incredibly important. That’s why the display on Google Glass is where it is. “You’ll know when someone with Glass is paying attention to you,” Lee said. “If you walk into a restroom and someone’s just looking at you”.

The team also addressed some of the questions raised by the device’s built-in camera. “If I’m recording you, I have to stare at you — as a human being. And when someone is staring at you, you have to notice,” said Charles Mendis, an engineer on the Glass team. If you walk into a restroom and someone’s just looking at you — I don’t know about you but I’m getting the hell out of there,” he added.

While Lee and Mendis are adamant that you’ll know when someone’s taking a photo with Google glass, the fact is that it’s still possible to use it if people aren’t paying attention. But Lee thinks that new social behaviours will arise as Glass makes its way into the world. “That’s why taking a picture has clear social cues — raise your hand or speak to Glass,” he said.

He also noted that the Glass display lights “Our design is to ensure the display is active when Glass is active,” he said. “That will be part of our GDK and part of our policy, so apps won’t be permitted that don’t do that.”

The ease with which Glass can be hacked has also raised questions among developers about how secure Glass will be with photos, videos and other user data. According to Lee, the device won’t easily expose user data. “We take the trust and reliability of our software very seriously, so by design that’s not intended,” Lee said of hacking Glass.