Today a bipartisan Congressional privacy caucus sent Google a letter with eight questions regarding a topic that's caused a lot of speculation: how will privacy be protected by Google Glass? The headsets can take photos and video in a more discreet manner than raising a smartphone or a camera and pointing it in the direction of a subject. Advances in facial recognition technology, as well as the wealth of data that Google has collected through increasingly consolidated user accounts, have raised the possibility that a stranger could see you on the street and access considerable data about you.

Co-Chairman of the privacy caucus Joe Barton (R-TX) and seven other members of the caucus signed the letter, which said, “we are uncertain of Google's plans to incorporate privacy protections into the device.” The caucus demanded that Google address how it would deal with getting consent from non-users who might have their information collected by Glass, how facial recognition would factor into Glass, and whether Google will allow people to store any personal information on Glass itself.

The caucus members also asked if the company would limit its technology to protect user and non-user privacy and wanted to know what specific information about users Google intended to collect (Google's current privacy policy says that it may “collect device-specific information”). Google has been given until June 14 to send a response to the caucus.

AllThingsD reported that Glass product director Steve Lee addressed some of these privacy concerns informally at a fireside chat with reporters and developers today in San Francisco. “From the beginning, the social implications … of Glass, of people wearing Glass, has been at the top of our mind,” Lee told reporter Ina Fried, noting that Glass is currently operating within the boundaries set by Google's current privacy policy.