Google glass – Surveillance, drone control and a punch in the face

If I see anyone identifying me through google glasses I’ll go up to that person punching them in the face and smashing their glasses. Since I do not know who is doing what anyone is at risk. Look, this is going get weird in the future, of cameras being so small and people having everything on the cloud. I’m not goin to go in to the subject of Borg society at this time but just want to share some quotes and link with my own bits of thought. Think, drones, constant surveillance, big data and ownership.

Given than five minutes with a device, security consultant Jay “saurik” Freeman said that he can “pick up your Glass, turn on debug mode, and get root access on it in a way that doesn’t leave a trace.”
“Then I can modify any of the software on your device,” Freeman told Ars Technica in a telephone interview. “I can make it so that for the rest of your Glass’ lifetime I’m in there, too, able to get access to your camera, listen in on your microphone. I can turn off debug mode and make it look like there’s nothing changed from your perspective. And when you get it back, you’re screwed.” – EndTheLie.com – Exploit can turn google glass into secret surveillance device

Most people wouldn’t know how to hack the glasses, but someone might get hold of them who knows. Or simply, Google will fix the job before you buy them. Since all the cameras and microphones, on every online computer or mobile device, can get hacked meaning you can be watched at any time. Maybe by a hacker or someone from a government agency practicing their skill by looking and listening to you. The field of vision is infront with the glasses and all an user looks at is in plain sight. Sounds bad enough? Well, think about drones and the control range the glasses would imply. Here is from CNN.

Imagine a world in which every major company in America flew hundreds of thousands of drones overhead, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, collecting data on what Americans were doing down below. It’s a chilling thought that would engender howls of outrage.
Now imagine that millions of Americans walk around each day wearing the equivalent of a drone on their head: a device capable of capturing video and audio recordings of everything that happens around them. And imagine that these devices upload the data to large-scale commercial enterprises that are able to collect the recordings from each and every American and integrate them together to form a minute-by-minute tracking of the activities of millions.
That is almost precisely the vision of the future that lies directly ahead of us. Not, of course, with wearable drones but with wearable Internet-connected equipment. This new technology — whether in the form of glasses or watches — may unobtrusively capture video data in real time, store it in the cloud and allow for it to be analyzed. – Edition.CNN.com – Wearable Devices

All this user data is stored on the cloud meaning it can get hacked, sold to marketing, used for tracking and that is a big issue. We already have this going on but with wearable devices it is going to get weird. With handheld mobile devices it is still humane in some sense – one has to keep the device in way that automatically indicates I’m recording. The glasses won’t indicate anything. Who owns the user data, your data? Remember, you don’t even have to use the device to be in the data – you can be subjected to recording.

By the way, no surveillance has stopped the terrorism, as we were told in the 00’s. So what will the argument be now? Or are people so gullible and sheep like to buy into this? No questions or thought, already in line for consuming? Something will happen, that is for sure. There is a huge changes around the corner in our history in terms of privacy (that has already been breached) and mostly about control. Someone is in control of information beyond our imagination and understanding – this is Big Data. Anyone still around with a feeling for privacy must be active in the structural legislation in the country one resides. Most important to talk about it, get the people around you to lift their heads from the screen and think. But also the crypto developers have to make more user friendly apps, like th one from GPGTools – Protect Your Email – Encrypt With GPGTools (for Mac users).

What do you think?

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

No Comments Yet.