Buzzy NYC nightclub plans to permanently ban partiers entering with smart glasses: Keep the dance floor private
They’re issuing a moratorium on glass-holes.Uber-exclusive New York nightclub Basement — a subterranean Berlin-inspired techno mecca in Maspeth, Queens — has become notorious for denying visitors who fail its mysterious “vibe check,” among other strict vetting processes.Now, they’re placing another type of ubiquitous club-goer on the blacklist– revelers wearing smart glasses.“Anyone bringing smart glasses into the venue, whether wearing them or carrying them in a bag, will be asked to leave and may be permanently banned,” the techno hotspot announced in a Thursday Instagram post.
“Our no photo/no video policy exists to protect the privacy, safety and freedom of everyone on our dance floor.Devices that allow discreet recording are incompatible with that policy.”The Post reached out to Basement for comment regarding the policy, which sheds light on just how controversial the tech has become.Smart glasses come equipped with smartphone-like hardware that allows them to record POV video and photos, among other functions.
As this tech is often hard to spot, smart glasses wearers can deploy them fairly inconspicuously, raising concerns that they can be used to film people without their consent.Instagram viewers seemed to be overwhelmingly on board with the ban on these tech specs.“Keep the dance floor private, present, and phone-free,” declared one commenter.“Introduce a magnetization policy,” suggested another.“Just scan people’s glasses with a magnet at their own risk lol.”“Every venue should have this policy.
Including Chili’s,” wrote a third.“What type of NERD goes to the club wearing this?” scoffed one, decrying the optics.“Now I get the need of your tight door policy.
The lame crowd is in.”“We as a society need to stop normalizing the surveillance state,” exclaimed one commenter, while another referred to them as “pervert classes” in reference to the trend of creeps using them to record people without th...