Augmented Reality Raises Legal Issues For Property Owners

Real Estate attorney Curtis Sano explains how technology advances such as the Google Glass pose a number of legal privacy issues, especially in the real estate industry. Augmented reality gives users the ability to overlay digital information over views or images of the real world. A user can look at a building and see residents names appear as an overlay. This affects commercial real estate because there is no answer as to who controls the appearance of an owner's real property. 

Associating digital content with physical locations may make it possible to change the appearance of a building when viewed through certain devices and apps, or to create digital signage or other information to appear to be located on, around, within or in front of a building. Until laws are passed extending the property owner’s rights to its property to govern digital representations of the property or digital enhancements to the property, there may be nothing that the owner can do, other than complain to the makers of the app. It is important for property owners and asset managers to be prepared for these changes.

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