The high demand for Snapchat’s new product has raised questions about spying
Video-based social network Snapchat has been keeping its users on the edge of their seats with its newest product: Snapchat Spectacles.
Released earlier this month, Snapchat Spectacles are currently being sold sporadically. Consumers can only find them in pop-up Snapbot vending machines, which are few and far between and with little notice. However, Snapchat has helped their customers with an interactive map that identifies where these Snapbots are.
Snapchat Spectacles represent another attempt at camera-equipped glasses. The product contains two internet-enabled cameras that contains a 115-degree field of view, and it allows the owner to record a 10-second video of whatever they see and post it to their Snapchat accounts.
Wired writer David Pierce reflects on his experience using the new hardware: “In the week I’ve had Spectacles, I’ve shared dramatically more on Snapchat than I ever have before.”
He elaborates that, “It becomes unconscious, almost: you just see something cool, and tap the button to save it to the log,” making it easier “To get new kinds of shots, it makes it easier to capture the ones I’d want anyway.”
The idea of spectacles did not come from Snapchat; it actually came from a company called Vergence Labs.
Vergence Labs was a company that began in 2011 and was founded by Stanford University students John Rodriguez and Erick Miller.
In that year, they created a product called Epiphany Eyewear, which were glasses that had a camera inside and could record video that can be sent to your phone or computer.
In 2014, Snapchat purchased Vergence Labs for a reported $15 million.Shortly after this, Snapchat began developing their own version.
Snapchat did make certain adjustments to the Epiphany Eyewear model. For example, their glasses would upload directly to Snapchat, as opposed to Youget.tv, which was the web service that Epiphany Eyewear would have used. Additionally, Epiphany Eyewear were ordinary looking glasses, while Snapchat Spectacles are much more fashionable and trendy.
However, there has been concerns about the use of the product when it comes to privacy, with many comparisons being made to Google Glass.
Google Glass sold at $1,500 and it did not last long on the marketplace due to concerns about privacy and safety.
Similar complaints are being made about Snapchat Spectacles. According to Russia Today, David Papp claimed that there is a possibility for inappropriate use because, “If users wear them in public washrooms or capture stealth videos of careless remarks, there is the possibility of abuse. And these videos don’t self-destruct. The glasses integrate with a smartphone app, and videos can be saved for later use.”
Unfortunately, this is one of the consequences that occurs with new products in the tech industry. The more technology advances, the more opportunities arise for misuse and abuse.
Snapchat has tried to combat these concerns by including a ring of LED lights that blinks to inform people that they are being recorded.
Google Glass had similar complaints about privacy during its release in 2015, due to the assumption from others that they were being filmed without consent. The term “glassholes” was commonly used to describe people who were using the product in this manner and Google eventually discontinued the product.
This will not solve the abuse that is used through these products, but it could still mitigate it.
Photo courtesy of keith-harper_cc-by-nc-sa-2-0-copy.