According to recode, Google glass has been re-branded as project Aura. As noted in this Fortune article, the company decided to focus on the business potential of the project as the consumer oriented device had lackluster demand. According to Fortune, Google glass is being used by industries such as healthcare, energy and manufacturing.
What does this mean?
It yet again gives credence to the trend that IT is being repatriated to the enterprise, as predicted Deloitte's 2015 TMT predictions. On a previous post, I had noted that the Intel's growth area was in support of data centres instead of consumer products - giving kudos to Duncan Stewart and team. But this serves as another evidence of their prediction being right.
Interestingly, Google has been able to procure the services of employees used to work on Amazon's Kindle tablets. Will this breathe in the consumer savvy that Amazon has been bringing to US customers?
Although the sources cited earlier say that this will be hitting the consumers some time in the near future, I still think that the privacy concerns I raised on a previous post on Glass still exist. Specifically:
"The issue, however, with Google Glass is that it is integrated into one's person's physical body and, unlike a smartphone, video camera or that ancient camera with smoke and all, it inherently lacks the social mechanism to communicate that the interaction is being recorded. Even with social media, it is well understood that the communication is occurring in a medium that can be easily shared, so those that engage in such a communication understand there is a possibility that their conversation is not private and may not be kept confidential. In other words, precisely because Google Glass is integrated into the moment, it inherently lacks the ability to gather:
"Notice. The entity provides notice about its privacy policies and procedures and identifies the purposes for which personal information is collected, used, retained, and disclosed."
"Choice and consent. The entity describes the choices available to the individual and obtains implicit or explicit consent with respect to the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information."
Author: Malik Datardina, CPA, CA, CISA. Malik works at Auvenir as a GRC Strategist that is working to transform the engagement experience for accounting firms and their clients. The opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent UWCISA, UW, Auvenir (or its affiliates), CPA Canada or anyone else.
One of the key trends in the recent years, has been the consumerization of IT.
What is the consumerization of IT?
In the first few decades of computing device, the focus of technological innovation was the enterprise. For example, mainframe computers were something only businesses could and would buy. However, that changed in the past decade. The focus of innovation became the consumer. With Moore's law eating away at the price of laptops, and the mobile device revolution with Apple & Google, it became easier for consumers to afford the latest and greatest device. Carrier subsidies for these devices also fueled the availability of the device. The culmination of this trend was the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), where companies allowed employees to bring the Macs or iDevice and attach it to the network. This made the employees happy (even though they had to support their own device) and the companies happy because they paid for less devices and saved around the administration and maintenance of these devices.
As an independent consultant, I experienced this trend first hand: I had better technology by way of laptops and mobile devices than multi-billion dollar clients.
In previous posts, (e.g. this one) we noted how this was one of the key factors in terms of eating BlackBerry's lunch: the corporate mobile device market.
Well, according Duncan Stewart & Paul Lee (and the rest of the TMT Predictions Team at Deloitte), the new trend they see coming is the re-enterprization of IT:
As they explain in the video, the specific areas that they see this as a trend are:
Wearables
3D Printing
Internet of Things
Drones
Finally, as they note at the end, the shift of focus back to the enterprise is advantageous from a fit perspective - devices from the ground up will be created to meet the needs of the enterprise. From IS and audit perspective, the move will likely enhance the information security and information integrity as these technologies will be easier to integrate into the security architecture and the actual processing environment.
Last week at the SXSW Conference, Google showed off its latest product Google Glass, The gadget last made headlines when Sergei Brin claimed that - while sporting Google glass - mobile phones are "emasculating", In other words, men (and women?) will fork over money to Google to be "real men". Prior to that ,the search engine giant invited the Verge's Josh Topolsky and revealed in this interview that the product will be available to the wider public by the end of 2013. The company plans to work with eye-glass manufacturers to make the technology available through such channels as well.
As can be seen in this interview, Google believes that the glasses will assist human beings to better connect in the world we live in: we can stay in the moment without having to take out our smartphones to capture the moment. For example, if you attend your kids sporting or extra curricular events you are probably used to seeing parents viewing the event through to their iPads or smartphones - instead of actually watching the kids play.
Is this the next big thing?
With Apple's steady stream of innovative products, such as the iPhone and iPad, having seem to become mainstream, some are questioning whether innovation in technology is becoming stagnant. For example, on this show on the Agenda, a group of panelists explored this topic based on a survey conducted by TVO that indicated the biggest inventions occurred decades ago.
Enter wearable technology: is Google Glass the next "big thing"?
Some commentators, such as Leo Laporte, have questioned the value of Google Glass or other wearable technology (e.g. it is rumoured that Apple is working on a watch). Does it really solve a problem that we have? Or is it a means to manufacture a want in order to satisfy Wall Street insatiable appetite for endless growth and profits?
Laporte, humourously, has judged the soon-to-be-released device as a "Segway for your face" - referring to the 'people mover' that had low commercial success due to the fact it did not look fashionable to ride one of these things. Consequently, it is not clear whether Google glass will be the next big thing or be a commercial failure.
Privacy implications of Wearable Tech
That being said, the privacy implications of this device are hard to ignore. In fact, one business in Seattle, the 5 point cafe has gone to ban the device. The owner of the establishment has admitted that the is was partially a PR stunt. However, one could argue that the ploy was successful because it speaks to underlying concern in society with the increasing encroachment of technology on one's privacy.
In a previous blog post, I have discussed how the shift to social media is from a certain perspective an adjustment in privacy for people that live in non-rural environments - where individuals are used to the anonymity of the condominium or the suburban sub-division. However, it is not for those that live in a more village oriented setting where everybody knows everybody and individuals could anonymity.
The issue, however, with Google Glass is that it is integrated into one's person's physical body and, unlike a smartphone, video camera or that ancient camera with smoke and all, it inherently lacks the social mechanism to communicate that the interaction is being recorded. Even with social media, it is well understood that the communication is occurring in a medium that can be easily shared, so those that engage in such a communication understand there is a possibility that their conversation is not private and may not be kept confidential. In other words, precisely because Google Glass is integrated into the moment, it inherently lacks the ability to gather:
"Notice. The entity provides notice about its privacy policies and procedures and identifies the purposes for which personal information is collected, used, retained, and disclosed."
"Choice and consent. The entity describes the choices available to the individual and obtains implicit or explicit consent with respect to the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information."
Of course these principles are designed for companies and organizations to manage the privacy of their customers and other stakeholders. However, they are useful because they help breakdown the problem of "wearable technology" in terms of what the privacy issues exactly are - beyond the "creepy factor". (Jeff Jarvis, professor of Journalism at CUNY and open-Google-fan-boy often talks about how creepy is too vague a term to be an obstacle to technological innovations that, in his opinion, increase the ability of a person to live life in public.) That is, the problem with Google glass is that when you lean in to talk to someone you are expecting them to keep what you are saying confidential. However, if they are wearing technology that can record what you are saying (i.e.without your knowledge) - then it effectively violates that expectation of privacy because the person wearing Google Glass has failed to give "notice" and therefore cannot gain "consent".
Consequently there will be need to be some adjustment in terms of wearing Google Glass. For example, one suggestion I have heard from someone on the Twit network, is that Google Glass should have some kind of light on that indicates it is taking pictures/videos/etc. However, given the nature of things, people can always find a way around such "controls".
Avoiding being Glassed
Inevitably, the privacy issues will go the way of social media. As horror stories of being "Glassed" (i.e. what I define as "an embarrassing-Glass-recorded-personal-moments makes it way YouTube or other video sharing site") get around, people will become aware of the privacy risk of being involved with Google Glass and may simply request: "Can you take those off before we talk? I'd rather not be Glassed. Thanks."
