FileHippo News

The latest software and tech news

Google has said that it will not be changing the privacy policy for Google Glass. The company sent a letter to US Congressman Joe... Google Refuse to Change Privacy Policy For Google Glass

Google has said that it will not be changing the privacy policy for Google Glass. The company sent a letter to US Congressman Joe Barton on June 7 in response to an open letter that contained eight questions surrounding concerns about Google Glass.

Barton, who is co-chair of the Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus, said of the reply, “I am disappointed in the responses we received from Google. There were questions that were not adequately answered and some not answered at all.”

Google Glass Model

“When new technology like this is introduced that could change societal norms, I believe it is important that people’s rights be protected and vital that privacy is built into the device.”

Google has again stated that it will ban facial recognition in response to the letter, however, developers claim that it is still possible to load facial recognition apps without Google’s permission.

Some questions raised by the original open letter have not even been addressed by Google, and so it is not surprising that Barton’s concerns have not been allayed. For example, Google were asked to provide examples of when they would reject requests on Google Glass that would risk the privacy of others. Google have not provided those examples in the response letter.

Keeping things simple and to the point, Google said, “Use of Google Glass will be governed by the terms of the Google Privacy Policy. No changes to the Google Privacy Policy are planned for Glass.”

This isn’t the only open letter that Google have received on this issue. Representatives from ten international data protection agencies also wrote to Google.

“Google Glass raises significant privacy issues and it is disappointing that Google has not engaged more meaningfully with data protection authorities about this technology,” says Canadian Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart.

Google has defended itself by saying that there are measures in place to protect privacy. Users will have to give voice commands to activate the camera and the device will have social signals, alerting people to the fact that a recording is taking place. It will be possible to delete data and wipe the device remotely.

CEO of Google, Larry Page, has urged people to wait and see whether issues arise Therefore we can take it that questions will not be answered fully, if at all, until Glass is finally released.

[Image via dvice]

SOURCE: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-07/02/google-glass-privacy-policy-wont-change