San Francisco bar cites Google Glass attack in banning device
The owner of a San Francisco bar popular with the high-tech crowd says he banned patrons from wearing Google Glass to avoid the type of confrontation seen less than two weeks ago at another bar in the city.
In that incident, a social media consultant claimed that she was attacked at the Haight-Ashbury bar Molotov’s for wearing the device. Others disputed the consultant’s account, which set off a social media backlash, and she has since attempted to leverage the incident for a Google-sponsored trip to the South by Southwest festival.
While its use isn’t mainstream, Google Glass, which combines many of the functions of a smartphone, has already aroused fears of privacy intrusions, which seems to grow as the device appears more frequently in public.
Wanting to avoid confrontations that may arise as a result, the owner of The Willows in South of Market posted a sign that features Google Glass with a red circle and slash over it, akin to a “No Smoking” sign. It also has a message saying customers “have expressed concerns with being recorded while enjoying themselves,” CBS San Francisco reported.
“Our policy definitely was in reaction to what happened at Molotov’s,” The Willows owner Tim Ryan told the Buisness Insider in an email.
The ban also went into effect at Ryan’s sister restaurant, The Sycamore.
“Since there are no actual laws that we’re aware of limiting what people with Glass can and cannot record (and subsequently post online without approval of those being filmed), we feel the best thing for us now is to play it safe by not allowing them at all at this point,” Ryan said.
Twitter: @aribloomekatz
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