Google is notifying 8,000 people that they can now buy and use a prototype of Google Glass as part of a real-world Google marketing experiment of this controversial new product.
To learn why I think Google Glass will encounter big privacy problems over time, see my video explanation here -- thanks to Mike Wendy of MediaFreedom.org for the video.
Expect this first wave of Google Glass-arazzi and storm-snoopers to run into significant privacy problems to the extent they film/record people's private conversations/activities without their knowledge or permission.
What we don't know yet is if Google will:
- Include any standard official consumer protection warnings/disclosures to try and prevent these Google Glass testers from getting harmed in any reasonably foreseeable way;
- Require these intrepid Google Glass guinea pigs to sign legal release forms to indemnify Google from any liability for how they use them in the real world; or
- Ensure that Google's terms of service make it clear that anything a Google Glass user records and stores on Google's servers is the fault and responsibility of the user and not Google.
For the sakes and safety of these 8,000 people, I hope Google is being more responsible in rolling out this new product/service than Google has been in the past. (See Google's Privacy Rap Sheet here.)