Facial Recognition Apps For Google Glass Will Not Be Approved For Now

Google has attempted to assuage some of the privacy concerns surrounding Google Glass with a new Google+ post on facial recognition.

As Google has said for several years, we won’t add facial recognition features to our products without having strong privacy protections in place. With that in mind, we won’t be approving any facial recognition Glassware at this time.”

The company also said developers would not be allowed to disable the Google Glass display while using the device’s camera. This comes in response to concerns that Glass wearers could surreptitiously take photos and videos of their surroundings, without those nearby able to see that they were doing so by noticing the lit display in front of their faces.

Glass, despite its holding pattern in beta, has already been scrutinized from an ethical perspective by many technology watchers, some of whom have said they’re troubled by the challenges to privacy posed by a wearable computer which could potentially be used to photograph people in public spaces without fair warning.

Google Glass is currently only available to Explorer Program members, with #ifihadglass contest winners joining them soon. Google says that it’s using this early period in Glass’s lifecycle to listen to users and the public and to shape its policies accordingly.

Google has in recent years been a target of privacy hawks concerned with the company’s access to growing amounts of personal information through its search services and mobile device software.

[PCMag, AllThingsD]