Stop The Cyborgs: A Website Against Google Glass

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There is a new website called "Stop The Cyborgs" that is dead set against Google Glass. I can't tell if this site is 100% serious but the issues they raise with Google's Goggles are pretty valid.

There is no way to know if you are being recorded by someone wearing Google Glass or a similar device. This is in contrast to a smart phone where the user must visibly hold the camera up to take a picture or record video. We must therefore assume that we are being recorded at all times(and possibly publicly broadcast) from a low angle where ones face is clearly visible.
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I agree with most of the concerns that they raise, but this isn't strictly accurate:

"There is no way to know if you are being recorded by someone wearing Google Glass or a similar device."

There's a prominent LED that's enabled during recording.
 
msde said:
I agree with most of the concerns that they raise, but this isn't strictly accurate:

"There is no way to know if you are being recorded by someone wearing Google Glass or a similar device."

There's a prominent LED that's enabled during recording.
Click to expand...
Because there's no way to disable or mask an LED light. They are all knowing and unstoppable.
 
While there are some valid points it seems like the majority of them could apply to things almost everyone already carries around like cell phones, mp3 players and credit cards.
 
You're worried about being recorded while out in public?
Watch out, I just saw a black helicopter flying over your house.
 
HDriscoll said:
You're worried about being recorded while out in public?
Watch out, I just saw a black helicopter flying over your house.
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Yeah, you're in public... why should this surprise anyone?
It's the same reason why we're allowed to record police officers.
 
EvilWays said:
Picard will save us...right?
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Picard_as_Locutus.jpg

I am afraid he's part of the problem.
 
How is Google Glass really any different than this?

9cfbaa6a-58ec-4a64-a6d2-8751c81bb3d6_zps28613397.jpg



The above is also the standard place I carry my phone when dealing with police.

In any case, if they are really serious about this, I am sorry. Technology has all but destroyed privacy as it is. Hoping to stop progress is generally a losing game, unless you are an oil company or the government.
 
I'd be more worried about what you do in front of one, rather then being worried they exist. Cause if it isn't Bob with Google Glasses, then it's a security camera, or stop light camera.
 
CreepyUncleGoogle said:
Nonsense! Google Glass is being made for the good of society. :mad:



Do tiny bits of duct tape no longer exist?
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You're not going to notice the guy with the grey piece of tape on his otherwise colorful Google Glass specs?

People need to get over this crap. You have no privacy in public spaces anymore at all. Learn to live with it. If you get recorded being a dumbass in public that's your fault and no one else's.
 
Dwango said:
You're not going to notice the guy with the grey piece of tape on his otherwise colorful Google Glass specs?

People need to get over this crap. You have no privacy in public spaces anymore at all. Learn to live with it. If you get recorded being a dumbass in public that's your fault and no one else's.
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Don't complain to me when pics or vids of your bouncy behind are all over YouTube. :D

I mean really, I'll probably ignore whatever rational thing it is you're talking about while asking you if your parents are home and what you're currently wearing anyway.
 
Dwango said:
You're not going to notice the guy with the grey piece of tape on his otherwise colorful Google Glass specs?

People need to get over this crap. You have no privacy in public spaces anymore at all. Learn to live with it. If you get recorded being a dumbass in public that's your fault and no one else's.
Click to expand...

FYI duck tap comes in a variety of colors.
 
GORANKAR said:
How is Google Glass really any different than this?
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Because I know what you're doing with that and can respond accordingly. Whether its to stop picking my nose or to identify you as stalking.

And google glass in its current form is somewhat obvious. It won't stay that way.
 
GORANKAR said:
Technology has all but destroyed privacy as it is. Hoping to stop progress is generally a losing game, unless you are an oil company or the government.
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Although I think privacy on the internet is probably a losing battle ... free exchange of information and privacy are kind of diametric opposites and more people seem to be in the free exchange of info camp ... I think some level of privacy in public is still up for grabs ;)

Whether Google Glass is progress or not is certainly debatable ... it is quite probable that we WILL all be assimilated ... but I prefer to take my page from Dylan Thomas and I will not go gentle into that good night and I WILL rage, RAGE against the dying of the light :cool:
 
HDriscoll said:
You're worried about being recorded while out in public?
Watch out, I just saw a black helicopter flying over your house.
Click to expand...

What about inside your home?
Say your friends or relatives showed up with Google glasses. :p
 
Somone needs to point the makes of this site to a few hundred eBay auctions, there are already glasses that record what you see using tiny cameras...

a very few of their points really are legitimate though. the misuse of our still-early-stage-and-inacurate facial recognition could cause false positives for things like 'scanning for criminals' though realistically, I dont see this being an option for google given the cost of cellular bandwidth... not tomention the relativly slow speeds most users experiance (which will only get worse the more and more people are doing it, i.e. "network congestion") Also the argument about "the device is too close to the body" there is some marginal evidence that cellular radiation *might* cause cancer, so I see a lot of people jumping on that bandwagon.

Overall though, this looks like a spoof site. most of their points are more humerous than serious:

7. It will discourage personal risk.

Discounting darwinism, how is this a bad thing?

18. Cool places will be outed by boors.

Really? This is an "important" issue? if you hold this kind of philosophy you already have a problem...

28. It will create needless competition over who has the most worthwhile life experience.

Facebook... twitter... instagram...already happening...

34. It could attempt to erase people in need from existence, as well as serious problems that we cannot ignore.

What? are we going to include guns in these goggles now?


On the other paw, there are a few valid points:

3. It is remarkably easy to steal a pair of glasses.

Questionable as how "unique" these look, but if they seem normal, then this is an issue

10. It could be hacked.

I can see legitimate concerns over this one if you work in R+D or some form of personal information processing facility, if hacked it woudl be childs play to steal hundreds of bank account or cred-card numbers from bankers/cashiers

19. It will discourage people from paying attention.
+
33. It will make driving dangerous.

Both of these are ligitimate problems, especially the latter. If you dont pay attention usually it only effects you. I can see a lot of crazy laws in the future because politicians dont fully understand how GG works...

27. It could create another place where advertisement takes over our lives.

This. However given we have "pop up blockers" and "ad removers" for all major OS and Browsers (including Google's own Chrome and Android) I suspect this will be short-lived.
 
Number 19 and 33 are not valid google is also working on self driving cars which is I think just as important to automobiles as the automobile its self, its amazing and I cannot WAIT for it.
 
I wonder if nothing can stop this tech from eventually being completely identical to normal glasses.
 
Google Glass wears are human drones sent into the world to collect video and audio information that is reported back to the mothership.
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May have a good point. Android already maps out surrounding wifi access points and sends them back to the google server along with their GPS coordinates. Who knows how much info they can pick up around your house if it turns out they had Google Goggles or something similar enabled all the time.
 
Usually I ask people wearing sunglasses to put them off if they want to talk to me. Would do the same if anyone wearing Google SpyGlass approach me.
 
dgz said:
Usually I ask people wearing sunglasses to put them off if they want to talk to me. Would do the same if anyone wearing Google SpyGlass approach me.
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It depends on how GG evolves, if it's an obvious alien-looking headset, yes, it will be easy, but it they become as inconspicuous as normal glasses, you'll have no way of know if the person had GG or was legally blind without their glasses.

Eventually even that wont matter, because one day these will go from glasses to contacts, which are practically invisible.
 
Terrible article, with no real arguments in almost all points.

BTW those are 34 thinks some random dude thought up, and from some of the arguments, the dude is a mix of hipster and douchebag... douchster? in other words, your average blogger.
 
msde said:
I agree with most of the concerns that they raise, but this isn't strictly accurate:

"There is no way to know if you are being recorded by someone wearing Google Glass or a similar device."

There's a prominent LED that's enabled during recording.
Click to expand...

Im sure that LED is next to impossible to disable via a firmware update, third party camera app /w some minor hacking exploit involved or a hardware mod via disconnecting the led-power. After all, Camera's have never been modded before to have the 'Click' sound removed also referred to as 'Pervert Cameras' for taking discreet photos of ppl on subways, streets and other locations. ;) :D
 
nsKb said:
Luddites being Luddites.
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Luddites want to get rid of guns or cars. Reasonable people stop misuse.

Nobody here wants to get rid of cameras and internet connected mobile devices. They just don't want to live under 24/7 surveillance without their knowledge.
 
Ashton said:
It depends on how GG evolves, if it's an obvious alien-looking headset, yes, it will be easy, but it they become as inconspicuous as normal glasses, you'll have no way of know if the person had GG or was legally blind without their glasses.

Eventually even that wont matter, because one day these will go from glasses to contacts, which are practically invisible.
Click to expand...

This is what I was telling a girl at work it will eventually evolve into contacts!

Secondly you are on video almost everywhere you go in public anyways.

Mall
Convenience store
Gas Station
Camera on street lights
Other people with Cell phones that can be recording you from a distance without your knowledge
 
Makaveli@BETA said:
This is what I was telling a girl at work it will eventually evolve into contacts!

Secondly you are on video almost everywhere you go in public anyways.

Mall
Convenience store
Gas Station
Camera on street lights
Other people with Cell phones that can be recording you from a distance without your knowledge
Click to expand...
Those are establishments that usually either have visible cameras or a notice. And you know who they are and have customer's to worry about. So using those cameras in a negative way is not in those companies' interest.
 
msde said:
I agree with most of the concerns that they raise, but this isn't strictly accurate:

"There is no way to know if you are being recorded by someone wearing Google Glass or a similar device."

There's a prominent LED that's enabled during recording.
Click to expand...
Who says that an LED light physically must be powered when the Glass is covertly instructed to record or collect visual data? The powering of the LED, from conspiracy standpoint, is merely to keep people from going berserk and serve as a psychological counterfeit reassurance (placebo if you will) that "if it blinks, it records; if it doesn't blink, impossible".
 
I'd be more worried about the fact that Glass, despite the $1500 price tag, is solely designed to work with the "Google botnet". Everything you do with it is available for data mining, monetization, advertising, and even worse is linked to your Google account. While I feel Google doesn't provide ample protections for privacy and has gotten worse and more extreme in recent year, the original idea behind allowing Google access to your personal information at all, even if it was just to scan a single email and use keywords from it to spawn a single ad-box (which it was at one time, and something I'd consent to), was to "pay" for access to their services that were "free". Glass is anything but free, yet by using it you consent to even more invasions of privacy!

Privacy on the Internet only dies when users accept its death or stop caring. While the march of technology continues forward, it is up to us to fight back against those who use it to obliterate privacy, especially private moneyed interests. There can and should be stringent regulations governing the collection, analysis, usage, and transmission of data - just because something is profitable, doesn't mean it should be permitted or viable. For many of us who have used the Internet since before the Web, privacy was one of its key benefits and people conducted themselves accordingly; I found the very notion of putting one's real name on "MyTwitFace+" horrid for this reason. Support the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Free Software Foundation, other privacy advocacy groups / movements (including Occupy for instance), and support politicians such as Jill Stein (and many of those from the Green party) who want to put an end to this assault on privacy be it from governments or the moneyed private interests who act as puppeteers in relation to them.
 
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