WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange famously critiqued Google’s corporate vision in a New York Times op-ed, warning that consumer technologies like Google Glass could facilitate mass surveillance states.
Key Points
- Julian Assange criticized the book "The New Digital Age," authored by former Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen.
- Assange compared the adoption of Google Glass to George Orwell’s dystopian vision of a boot stamping on a human face.
- The critique argued that emerging consumer gadgets threaten individual independence and personal privacy.
- Although Google Glass was a commercial failure, modern concerns regarding mass surveillance have renewed interest in Assange’s warnings.