If it exists, there will be porn on it. It’s true for pretty much every gadget out there, and Google Glass is no different.
TechHive reports that Google has updated its Glass platform developer policies to include a section banning sexually explicit material on the device. It’s been added as the very first item under content policies:
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.
Google should have updated its policies sooner because there’s already a porn app for Glass called “Tits and Glass.” It was released after Google had updated its policies, but the team at MiKandi had been working on the app long before Google ever said no to porn on Glass. In fact, they launched the app on Monday – only two days after the policies were updated.
So, what will the developers do now? Well, Google hasn’t contacted them about the app yet. It could be that Google doesn’t see it as a violation of its newly updated policies, but that’s unlikely. “Tits and Glass” is a porn app through and through. It even includes some Glass-specific porn.
In another world, Glass could be celebrated as a revolutionary device for porn, but this is not that world. Google has to watch its own back to avoid any potential controversies that would arise from letting people distribute porn on Glass.
The developers behind Tits and Glass are not just going to throw in the towel though. That being said, they don’t really know what to do either though. The developers are said to be discussing their next move.
With Google constantly updating its policies on Glass to address things like pornography, facial recognition and more; Tits and Glass developer Jesse Adams said it best – “Google must be afraid of how powerful their own Glasses are.”
And therein lies the inherent challenge with Glass or any open technology for that matter. It’s pretty much impossible to completely regulate what people can and can not do or see. Hackers have already rooted Glass and have done some incredible (and terrifying) things with it. What’s to stop Glass owners from bypassing Google’s own policies to use Glass as a porn creation tool? Sure, they can’t distribute the app through official channels, but that hasn’t stopped the proliferation of questionable apps on Android. Once Glass goes public, a number of third-party app stores will rise up to offer the kind of apps that Google won’t.