National data protection authorities and the Article 29 Working Party have written a joint letter to the Chief Executive Officer of Google, Mr Larry Page, urging him to respond to questions and concerns about the development of Google Glass, the company's new internet-connected glasses which are currently in beta testing and not yet available to the general public. The letter makes clear that, as the glasses can be worn by an individual and can be used to film and record audio of other people, Google Glass has been raising fears of ubiquitous surveillance by individuals of other individuals. However, questions about what Google will do with the data it collects and what it means in terms of Google's revamped privacy policy collection are now starting to appear. The letter continues that much of what is known about Google Glass has come from media reports and Google's own promotion of the device and that data protection authorities are disappointed that Google has not engaged in a meaningful dialogue with them during the development of their product in order to address the privacy and wider ethical issues. The eight questions include the information Google intends to collect and who it will be shared with, whether risk assessments have been carried out, privacy safeguards and what Google is doing to address social and ethical issues like the surreptitious collection of information about individuals by individuals. The data protection authorities are now urging Google to conduct a meaningful dialogue with them so as to build privacy into the development of its product. This is not the first time that data protection authorities have united against Google (see Legal update, EU data protection authorities take consolidated action against Google).

Source: Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, news release and letter, 18 June 2013.