Serendipity or Snooping?
November 18, 2010
Barry Levine reports on Eric Schmidt’s presentation at the Tech Crunch Disrupt conference in “Eric Schmidt Sees Devices Running Your Life for You.” With a couple of brief nods to privacy concerns, the Google CEO touted his fantasy of a utopian future where computers anticipate your every move. Levine gives an example: “You’re walking down the street and your smartphone reminds you of your appointments, notes nearby sales of those shoes you’ve been searching for, and points out that your ex-girlfriend is in the restaurant on the corner.” This might send shivers of excitement down Schmidt’s spine, but it makes my hair stand on end. I don’t particularly care to have ex-boyfriends or anyone else know what restaurant I’m in. For anyone who’s been stalked this sounds more like a nightmare than a dream. Even if by some miracle we could assume everyone’s best intentions in this scenario, there’s a reason the Panopticon was a prison, not a luxury resort. And with recent backlashes against Facebook’s privacy controls, I think I’m not the only one who is still concerned about the openness of personal information online.
Alice Wasielewski, November 18, 2010
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