Wondering what West Virginia and Britain have in common? This. After hearing that a bill in WV would outlaw Google Glass for motorists in the state, a new report from Stuff suggests that the United Kingdom is considering something comparable. A Department for Transport spokesperson was quoted as saying the following:
“We are aware of the impending rollout of Google Glass and are in discussion with the Police to ensure that individuals do not use this technology while driving. It is important that drivers give their full attention to the road when they are behind the wheel and do not behave in a way that stops them from observing what is happening on the road.”
He went on to affirm that a range of penalties already exist in order to punish drivers who aren’t “paying proper attention to the road,” and while a law has yet to be passed targetting Glass specifically, it certainly sounds as if that type of modification is on the table. Silver lining? North Korea has yet to issue a similarly depressing condemnation of the headset.
Just as we thought we knew everything about the government spying on us, another leak has made its way into the limelight that reveals a new program, besides PRISM, that collects a ton of information about users on the internet, including email, Facebook chats, and web browsing history. The Guardian has revealed a set of
Just when you thought the scale of the NSA’s surveillance programs couldn’t get more superlative, new details about a special software suite show that analysts can access "nearly everything a typical user does on the internet." If it uses HTTP, the NSA can get it.
Today brings another victory for transparency as the US government has just declassified three documents pursuant to the collection of telephonic metadata authorized by section 215 of the PATRIOT Act. The documents, released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, include the 2009 and 2011 reports concerning the reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act as well as the order for business record collection. During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the subject, NSA Deputy Director John Inglis made public for the first time the mechanism for accessing the metadata at the government’s disposal. According to Inglis, telephonic information — which does not include names, addresses, or social security numbers — exists in databases but cannot be accessed without reasonable suspicion of association with terrorists. Deputy Attorney General James Cole went on to say, “Nobody is listening to anybody’s conversations.” This revelation might be cold comfort to those concerned about the government’s ownership of this data to begin with, but it does pull back the curtain somewhat on the NSA’s policies and procedures. To read these declassified — and heavily redacted — documents in full, head on over to the source link below.
Intel has dropped controversial plans to outfit its upcoming web TV set-top box with a face-recognition camera, admitting that a combination of privacy concerns and performance issues forced its hand. The original goal had been to use a combination of age, gender, and other identification features to track viewers of the web TV service and tailor advertising to suit; however, Intel’s web TV chief Erik Huggers told the WSJ, that’s now been abandoned, at least in the first-gen box.
According to Huggers, Intel Vice President and General Manager of Intel Media, the camera system did not work as well in low-light settings as the company hoped, a vital feature given the sort of environments in which people generally watch TV. Intel had never detailed its exact system, though concepts by the company had been demonstrated publicly built into set-top boxes.
The goal had been to endear Intel’s fledgling on-demand and live TV service to content owners, by promising them far more comprehensive viewer metrics on which promotional campaigns could be based. Whereas existing advertising takes a relatively blunt-brush approach to who is watching what, Intel’s system could have pinpointed demographics down to relatively narrow age brackets, tracked the gender of multiple viewers, and more.
Intel Web TV viewer-tracking demo:
That, coupled with on-demand access to different advertising content, could have allowed Intel to show tailored playlists of commercials depending on who was watching at any one time. The system could also have made suggestions for other shows the viewer might enjoy, based on their age and gender along with what they’d already been watching, in effect supercharging Netflix-style recommendations with demographic awareness.
Unsurprisingly, even with Intel insisting its eye-on-the-sofa would take a relatively vague view of who was watching, privacy advocates weren’t impressed with the scheme. Those privacy questions were another part of Intel’s decision to backtrack on the camera, Huggins conceded.
The as-yet-unnamed service – rumored to be dubbed Intel OnCue when it launches – is currently in testing in the homes of around 2,500 Intel employees, Huggins says. Despite rumored struggles to secure content licensing, which Intel has insisted will not affect a 2013 launch, the web TV chief is confident that the service will find favor among consumers, not least because of its comprehensive cloud DVR system.
That, it’s expected, will include full recording of all programming into a cloud-based store, with access to at least three days of retrospective viewing. Subscribers will be able to rewind any channel they choose should they miss something, even if they didn’t specifically mark it for recording.
Right now Google Glass sits at the apogee of geeky, wearable technology. Last month, interviewing a Glass-wearing Robert Scoble, Newsnight’s Jeremy Paxman memorably debunked it in his opening question as “that thing on your head. ” Getting non-techie people to view Glass as anything other than ludicrously geeky is going to be an uphill fight for Google.
Arguably, though, even more of a blocker to Glass adoption is people viewing the technology as the epitome of creepy, thanks to its built-in camera. Sure a digital eye sited at eye-level lets you share a nice view of that mountain you can see from your hotel window. But in more everyday scenarios, it also lets you video your fellow humans as they go about their business, and that privacy intrusion is inevitably going to cause some friction. Throw in the whole NSA PRISM surveillance fallout and stuff like this is inevitable.
Add to that, even though Google has banned (even more creepy) facial-recognition apps on Glass’s Mirror API, it’s possible to envisage a workaround that leverages Google’s Hangouts feature — which shares real-time field of vision — to get around the bar. Marco Vanossi, co-founder of GeoPapyrus, pointed out this workaround to TechCrunch — and demonstrates how it can be made to work in this video, creating a Hangout with a robot assistant called Dexter that then analyses what the Glass wearer can see.
“You can share your camera view through a Google Hangout and the content in it (people, objects, places, barcodes, qrcodes) can be analyzed and identified,” he tells TechCrunch. “As a result, information can be overlaid on top of it and shown back on your screen. This means that the Hangout app, built and distributed by Google on every Glass device, could be used to violate its own privacy rules.”
All of which suggests there may be room for an eyeless Glass-style product that preserves privacy by being receive-only — and therefore can’t be accused of spying. Enter GlassUp. GlassUp is a prototype pair of augmented reality specs that does not include a camera. It’s currently seeking funds to start manufacturing on Indiegogo. The glasses are designed to allow the wearer to receive text-based messages and updates overlaid over the central portion of their field of vision — so while they intrude on the wearer’s vision, they can’t be accused of intruding on the privacy of the people around them.
GlassUp’s creators envisage a typical use-case being a pedestrian or a motorbike rider wanting to navigate handsfree and without having to stop every few yards to consult a map/smartphone. Or a tourist wanting to get info about the historical landmarks they are seeing pushed to their eye-line as they explore a new city. Other imagined use-cases include for cooks or warehouse workers needing info as they work.
The device is basically a second screen output for a smartphone, connecting via Bluetooth, that’s worn as a heads-up display. It has a monochrome projector to display text updates, helping to extend the battery life of the device. The creators say they intend to release some apps themselves, but also plan to release an API for Android, iOS and Windows Phone to allow developers to extend its functionality.
Having intentionally stripped back the hardware of GlassUp to remove privacy concerns its creators have also shrunk the cost. The price tag for the device starts at $299 — considerably cheaper than the Google Glass Explorer’s hefty price tag of $1,500.
GlassUp’s creators are hoping to raise $150,000 on Indiegogo and have so far managed to reach just over half their goal, with 11 days left on the campaign. However, an update on their crowdfunding page notes that they will deliver products even if they fail to achieve their funding goal — thanks to unnamed investor backers. GlassUp is due to go on sale from February next year.
TechCrunch’s Steve O’Hear contributed to this story
From the NSA to Mozilla, it seems like everyone wants to track your online activity (because you’re so interesting, of course). Pinterest is the latest to jump on that bandwagon, but the company is keen to assure users that it’s completely down with Do Not Track. In a blog post introducing its most recent update, Pinterest spelled out what its latest addition — the “Edit Home Feed” option — means for its users’ privacy. Basically, you can now tailor your feed to provide you with content related to what you’ve been pinning. Additionally, Pinterest can track your activity on other sites (so long as they feature a “Pin It” button) to suggest boards based on your interests, though users can easily opt out under their account settings. With public concern over online tracking at an all time high (Thanks, PRISM!), Pinterest evidently didn’t want to get caught on the wrong side of the divide.
We saw a lot of new features during the unveiling of Android 4.3 Jelly Bean earlier this week, including multi-user account support with restricted profiles, as well as Google Play Games, which is Google’s version of Apple’s Game Center. However, there’s a new feature installed as well called Apps Ops, which is an app permission manager.
Apps Ops is hidden for the time being, most likely due to it not being fully ready yet, but luckily, you can install a third-party app that unlocks the hidden app permissions manager, letting you set individual custom controls for each app and give them their own permissions that they’re allowed to perform.
For instance, you can fine tune permissions to apps to prevent them from accessing your contacts, getting your location through GPS, and accessing your call log. Obviously, this is a huge win for those worried about their privacy, but it’s also a huge win for smartphone hypermilers, as you can turn on automatic GPS in apps to save on battery.
We’re not sure when Google plans on unlocking the feature for everyone, without the help of a third-party unlocking app, but this gives us a sign that Google is becoming more aware of privacy and wants users to be able to fine tune settings in order to have the level of privacy they want.
The hidden feature also seems to give users the ability to to deny some permissions in apps at the time of installation, which would be rather convenient and time-saving. Currently, many of us don’t read the app permissions anyway when we install the app, and simply just hit “Accept,” but this could make us pay more attention to the information that apps can get a hold of.
Installing an Android app brings up a permissions prompt that most folks ignore (though they probably shouldn’t). But, what if you could grant applications access to some parts of your smartphone and not others? That’s something Android Police have discovered is already baked into Android 4.3, and it’s called “Apps Ops.” The feature is hidden by default, but can easily be enabled via a third-party app in the Play Store, which brings it to life and allows you to fine tune other apps’ permissions to read your contacts, access your location via GPS, or even read your call log. This is a buried feature and we have no idea if and when it’ll be officially activated, but it looks like Google’s pledge for better privacy could mean more than just an incognito mode.
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