The scandal surrounding kids being spied on at home via webcams in laptops provided by schools extends further than just schoolchildren – four years ago Google admitted that it was implementing similar invasive surveillance technologies that would target all Americans.
In 2006, Google announced that they would use in-built microphones to listen in on user’s background noise, be it television, music or radio – and then direct advertising at them based on their preferences.
“The idea is to use the existing PC microphone to listen to whatever is heard in the background, be it music, your phone going off or the TV turned down. The PC then identifies it, using fingerprinting, and then shows you relevant content, whether that’s adverts or search results, or a chat room on the subject,” reported the Register.'
Read more...
I had just read about the school spying on the students in Pennsylvania, and I am shocked. I have been well aware of the crossover to a 1984-like time, and I do not approve. Google has used the excuse that they are using the acquired information on each person to direct the advertisements to their customers more accurately, but also add that they do not hold your information for themselves. As for camera and microphone unit in Computers and laptops, that is old news. All the new 3-D TVs include a built-in camera and microphone.
ReplyDelete