Privacy Taken by Life-Logging Cameras

One of the founders of Memoto, Martin Kaellstroem, lost both of his parents to cancer when he was a young adult.  When this happened, he was inspired to create a camera that would spontaneously capture the user’s life as it is being lived.  This small “life-logging camera” is worn either clipped to your shirt collar, or around your neck on a string.  Every 30 seconds, a picture is taken and there is no off button.  Essentially, it captures every ½ minute of a person’s life

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Now in his late 30s, Mr. Kaellstroem has said, “When you lose your parents, you realize that you don’t live forever.  It definitely affected me in my entrepreneurship.  I can’t wait until later to fulfill my dreams; I have to live my dream now.” He states that normally, people bring their cameras to special events to capture those around them at their best.  He stated, “You don’t know in advance which moments will be important in the future.  Perhaps you meet your future wife or witness an accident or a crime.  These are pictures you might want to return to.”  But, will everyone accept that they will be filmed whenever they are with a user of a life-logging camera?

This brings “Big Brother” and “The Truman Show” to life.  Mr. Kaellstroem doesn’t see his camera as a breach to anyone’s privacy; he sees it as a collection of memories.  Personally, I don’t see it that way.  I would not want to meet friends for lunch knowing that one of them is using a life-logging camera.  I’m a fairly private person and I wouldn’t like knowing that someone has pictures of every 30 seconds of me as I sat down with them for lunch or dinner.  It’s not that I have something to hide; it’s just that I don’t like having my picture taken.  To know that a picture would be taken every 30 seconds would not make me happy at all.

This life-logging camera looks like an iPod mini and gathers pictures automatically.  They are sorted by GPS location, time and lighting.  Anyone using this camera can share the pictures on Twitter, Facebook, or any other social media.  Oskar Kalmaru, who is co-founder of Memoto, likens the camera to a diary for those who are tech-savvy and who don’t have the patience or discipline it takes to keep a written diary.  He says, “I’ve failed several times when trying to write a blog or travelogue.  Older relatives managed to keep a diary over 20 years, but it’s hard with the routine.”

Google Glass: Innovative or Creepy?

In 2012, Google began testing and demonstrating a new product that they call “Google Glass”.  Google Glass is a device that is a very small display screen and it is made to be worn either by itself, or hooked on to a pair of glasses or sunglasses.  The device will show the user the time, give directions, search the Internet, send messages and take photos and videos.  This is all done hands-free.  Just speak and Google Glass will do as you ask. 

  

Since its debut, there have been around 8,000 Glass wearers.  Last year, at SxSW (an annual conference featuring music, films and interactive technology), Google Glass was seen everywhere.  The same was true of this year’s conference.  People are curious about what it’s like, but most find it pretty creepy.  But, why is it that most people find it creepy?  After all, it’s just a small piece of glass that sits near the wearer’s eye.

When you see someone wearing Google Glass, whether they are sitting across from you at a table or simply walking past you on the street, you never know what they are doing on the device.  They could be reading texts, doing research, or they could be doing nothing at all with it at the time.  When someone walks by you wearing Google Glass, you would never know if that person has just taken a picture of you or even shot a video as you were approaching each other.  This is what makes it so creepy.  In fact, many people feel uncomfortable even coming close to someone wearing Google Glass.

Google Glass makes people so uncomfortable that some have been told to leave stores, clubs and even meetings at work if they didn’t remove the device.  Wearing Google Glass at an airport could cause problems as could driving while wearing the device.   In fact, Cecilia Abadie was the first person to get a traffic ticket while wearing Google Glass.  She was initially stopped for speeding in October 2013, but when the officer saw that she was wearing Google Glass, he added a ticket for the violation “monitor visible to driver”.  Ms. Abadie took the matter to Court in January 2014 and was found not guilty.  The officer had no proof that the monitor was turned on at the time of the incident.

When it comes to discussion groups about Google Glass, there are two views:  Google Glass wearers love the device, but those interacting with them don’t like it at all.  In fact, they barely tolerate it.  In social situations, non-wearers get a feeling of paranoia because they feel they are always being “watched”.

What’s odd about all this discomfort is that those who say they don’t like the feeling that they are being recorded by Google Glass wearers don’t think twice about being recorded other ways; like with a smart phone or security cameras.  Of course, the difference here is that with a smart phone or security cameras, you always know when you are being recorded.  With Google Glass, you would never know.  So, I guess the feeling of unease isn’t from the fact that they could be recorded, it’s from the not knowing if it’s happening or not.  

Google Glass wearers don’t see an issue with each other because they know how the device works.  However, if you have never worn Google Glass, and you are talking with someone who wears it, all you see is this small piece of glass and you can’t help but wonder if your conversation is being recorded.