Since Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s introduction of Glass, the company and the product have faced quite a bit of criticism from privacy advocates and advocacy groups. Perhaps in a ploy to dismiss these concerns or at least control the news regarding Glass, Google has recently, if only temporarily, decided to ban porn applications from Glass.
It’s hard to believe that a potential use of Glass would not include the filming of Point-of-view pornography, in fact it’s impossible for me to believe that this hasn’t been discussed at length at Google’s headquarters.
Monday saw the Seattle-based app development company MiKandi release an app that company stated would “comes preloaded with premium adult photos, with MiKandi promising to release more Glass-shot POV adult content through the app soon.”
Google wasted no time in making changes to its its Google’s Glass Platform Developer Policies, Under the Content Policies section, it now reads: “We don’t allow Glassware content that contains nudity, graphic sex acts, or sexually explicit material. Google has a zero-tolerance policy against child pornography. If we become aware of content with child pornography, we will report it to the appropriate authorities and delete the Google Accounts of those involved with the distribution.”
It seems that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has opted to go the route of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in restricting material, a bit odd given that at least a small part of Android’s success has been Google’s unwillingness to censor its customers as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has never shied from doing.
It’s quite possible that MiKandi will seek compensation from Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) as they maintain they did nothing wrong and built the app over the last couple of weeks while strictly adhering to the developer’s content policy.
Google To Ban Adult Content On All Glassware
MiKandi CEO Jesse Adams reached out to his users in a blog post, saying that “MiKandi became aware today that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) changed its policy over the weekend to ban adult content on all Glassware. When we received our Glass and started developing our app 2 weeks ago, we went through the policy very carefully to make sure we were developing the app within the terms… Although the app is still live and people are using it, at this point we must make changes to the app in order to comply with the new policies.”
While the company didn’t say anything of compensation, we live in a litigious society and MiKandi would certainly be within its rights.
There was no comment from Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) as to whether they intend to continue this policy when Glass is released to the public. For now, however, porn has gone the way of facial recognition, nixed by Google. The latter was certainly a response to privacy groups.
