I am curious to see what others think about this topic, as I found it kind of alarming.
Asmbly is a “third space” for me, and I would assume many others. I have loved my time in the shop and with the community, but I’m really not loving the amount of AI glasses I’ve been seeing.
Our shop has a general rule of “ask people before taking photos of their work”, but these glasses are a massive loophole. The recording indicators are able to be bypassed by something as easy as a well placed sticker, and the company behind them has shown zero regard for user privacy along with having contracts with Palantir, a military surveillance company. There is software available for these glasses that use facial recognition to pull up anyone’s publicly available data (phone, address, social media profiles) upon seeing them without ever notifying the person being recorded. This should be a major concern for everyone.
I’m not sure what the solution is, but I thought I should start the conversation. I consider Asmbly to be a bright spot in a dark world, and it would be a shame for it to become another place where the expectation is constant surveillance.
@carleaux have you actually seen members wearing these? And if yes, were they recording?
I’m not familiar with them and probably wouldn’t recognize them if I saw a person wearing them. I’m going to do search to familiarize myself. I’ve also sent a message to the leadership team so we can discuss it.
Thank you for bringing it up and expressing your concerns.
If this is true I’d feel the exact same way. It would be frustrating just to know this kind of thing is freely and legally available in the first place! Don’t know the solution either but figured I’d contribute an echo.
Personally, i think these types of glasses/tech are coming - to a society near you - like it or not. I don’t own any, but i recall Google Glass being banned when they first came out due to this same argument.
Now Meta has launched a better campaign, and the pervasive surveillance culture is even MORE stark than it was 5y back (or whenever Google Glass came out).
i would be more concerned with ‘flock’ than personal users with personal glasses, but i get why you’re concerned.
I’ve always found the folks in asmbly to be very thoughtful and kind. The idea that they would be using them for untoward purposes, seems less likely. Phones can also be set to record w/o any notification, as with laptops, tablets and other such fun.
heck, have you seen how tiny cameras have gotten now? its insane.
Thanks for raising the question @carleaux and everyone here for the thoughtful discussion.
The leadership team did take a look at this after @Glory2God flagged it. While new devices and technologies will continue to evolve, our expectations around privacy in the space remain the same regardless of the tool being used.
Our How to Be Excellent guidelines outline the expectation that members are respectful of others in the shop. We’ve explicitly added a bullet point to reinforce the expectation to ask permission before taking photos or recording videos of people or their work. That expectation applies whether someone is using a phone, camera, wearable device, or anything else capable of recording.
Asmbly works best when we assume good intent and look out for one another. If anyone ever feels uncomfortable about being recorded or photographed in the space, please speak up in the moment or reach out to leadership so we can help address it (people@asmbly.org is a private reporting channel you can always use).
As a reminder, Asmbly has security cameras around the shop for internal use only. When we’re gathering footage for marketing purposes, we follow the same standard and start with asking for consent from individuals involved.
I appreciate everyone’s contributions to help keep Asmbly a thoughtful and respectful place to create
As a follow up to this, I saw a sign in the door recently that says something along the lines of: by working in this shop you consent to all livestreams and recordings. I personally do not feel comfortable giving that blanket permission. This is not to say I wouldn’t be open to be recorded, but I’d like to know when and where rather than a blanket “whenever”. Is there any further information on this?
Thanks for this question @zak, I’m happy to give more info on that. We made this flyer for when we have public events happening, such as Maker Showcase or Demo Days, where we’re livestreaming or planning to put footage captured up online. The cases where this applies is usually pretty obvious with several PTZ cameras set up in the area affected. Filming that we do outside of those events comes with a direct ask of consent from the people being filmed.
For anyone who hasn’t noticed it, here’s what the flyer looks like:
