They're all ears: How more and more gadgets increase privacy fears
Anything is possible in the so-called Internet of Things but privacy fears may be a hurdle, writes Jamie Carter
Talking to a smartphone isn't new. Siri and Google Now listen to specific commands and attempt to give an answer, but what if they were listening constantly? Upcoming smartphones, tablets and other gadgets will come with microphones that respond to a voice command at any time. Meanwhile, music recognition companies like Shazam are turning their attention to personal marketing, using embedded audio in television programmes and advertisements to trigger advertising content on smartphones and tablets.
Further in the future are headsets like Google Glass that listen to our every utterance and, eventually, the mood-sensing television that will listen to your tone of voice, as well as your words, to choose TV programmes and movies from the cloud designed to match your mood. Impressive, but does the constant microphone create a privacy problem?
"It's only just beginning," says Christer Eriksson, regional planning director for advertising consultancy R/GA Singapore. "The new Moto X smartphone can listen to you all the time … but it's just a first step as it's command-based only." The Moto X is all about hands-free control, allowing the user to ditch touch screen navigation for simple voice commands, and it's a feature that's coming to all Android devices. A free app on the Google Play store, Open Mic+, lets all Android users running the new Jelly Bean operating system say "OK Google" - or wave at the phone - to kick-start voice control. Unlike previous attempts, this feature runs in the background so can be enabled any time, whether the screen is on or off. In short, your smartphone is always listening, waiting for your next utterance.
"Once we have devices that observe rather than listen to commands, then we're talking about a really smart device," says Eriksson. "Google Now is just starting on that trend by analysing your calendars and bookings, but add listening and you're into something special - or scary, depending on how you look at it."
More and more gadgets exist that potentially expose our privacy Already anyone can put their smartphone in a top pocket and leave the video camera running to capture every moment of a day - or even a life. There's a natural fear of being spied on, but it's debatable whether the smartphone or camera that's always on threatens privacy any more than existing technology.
"I can sit in a cafe and sniff the internet packets of the people using the free Wi-fi," says Nigel Cannings, the CTO of , which does a lot of work in the "sentiment analysis" side of voice recognition - the all-important emotional meaning of a conversation. "If I'm feeling really ingenious, with not too much work I can persuade the mobile phone of any person in a 100-metre radius to connect to my 'network', and listen to every call they make," he says.
