Do tech companies ever stop to think about the misery they unleash on people’s lives? The Apple Watch Series 12 uses “Audio Intelligence” that, as well as secretly taking notes, also has a Live Rewind feature that can replay the last 15 seconds of recently detected audio and view a text transcript.
↫ Matt Growcoot at PetaPixel
Another win for us Europeans: this dystopian nightmare will not be available in the EU.
“Another win for us Europeans: this dystopian nightmare will not be available in the EU.”
Another reason never to talk to an American.
Although I hope you do realize that some the finest gentlemen here are (US) Americans.
As an American, I am in complete agreement.
Please, don’t talk to me
Oh wow – way to throw 300+ million people in a blender.
Another challenge for https://www.youtube.com/@Blendtec
> Picture this: you’re arguing with your partner and boom, suddenly you replay the terrible thing they just said to you. This is truly a Black Mirror episode.
If this sort of thing ends up with less people being obnoxious pricks to their partners (and everybody else for that matter) because they know others around them might be recording them at any time, then bring on the Black Mirror.
Do you hear yourself? That’s exactly one of the oppression mechanisms the Soviets used : you never know who’s listening, who will report your “unstateful” opinions and get you banned from working/traveling/studying. It’s also how religious fundamentalist communities work : everyone spies on everyone and shuns whoever has heretical thoughts/behaviour.
Now go install some Flock cameras if you like surveillance so much.
> who will report your “unstateful” opinions and get you banned from working/traveling/studying.
That was already happening before AI came along. People were getting fired for posting tasteless jokes on social media that the Moral Majority didn’t like. So, since we’re already in that dystopia, let’s lean into it.
The usual common sense “think before speaking, hold your tongue, weigh your words.”
There’s a big difference between a private conversation and public blast on social media. One should be private, and produce only private/personal consequences, while the other deserves public consequences. And this should be obvious.
Posts like yours always remind me that the average IQ is 100, that half the population is in double digits.
CaptainN-,
I can’t determine if WorknMan’s posts were meant to be taken sarcastically, but regardless please don’t use ad hominem attacks since it degrades the discussion…attack the arguments rather than the person.
I don’t understand why people buy this sort of crap.
To look cool and help get organized.
Other people use (expensive) wristwatches and a (leathered) agenda with a (fancy) pencil.
And/or their smartphone to record their “to-do” list.
> and transcribing everything it hears
This part of the title does not look right: the transcribing happens on demand, so only the audio that the user chooses to get a transcript for gets transcribed, not everything that gets recorded. Apple are explicit about that: “It doesn’t continue to transcribe in the background”. Still glad it won’t be available in the EU though.
Actually, it is “not be available in the EU and China,” and it has been mentioned at least two times during the presentation, at 14:15 and 27:40.
I wonder if this will be available in two-party-consent states in the US[1]. My gut tells me that somehow Apple will be exempt from those laws, and instead, the people who aren’t tech-savvy and have no idea their shiny new device is breaking the law 24/7 will be the ones going to jail or getting sued for it.
And this is to say nothing of recording conversations one is not a party to at all, i.e. ambient recording; that is illegal on the federal level here. Oh who am I kidding, Apple may as well own the US DoJ, they bought and paid for it with their golden plaque offering.
1. https://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/recording-phone-calls-and-conversations
Morgan,
The article wasn’t that clear to me. Is this always on or something that must be deliberately enabled?
If the user must deliberately enable it, then I would expect it to fit under the same provisions as a tape recorder. The user has the responsibility of complying with the law.
But if it really is recording 24/7 out of the box, then it seems like product might inherently violate consent laws. Heck it might even violate the rights of the person wearing the watch, which would be so ironic. IMHO though the main problem stems from parties not knowing they are being recorded.
It likely needs to go to court before we’ll get answers…and even then because legal jurisdictions are so fractured I am not hopeful that it will be settled consistently across the country.
US regulation and “justice” are a bad joke at this point. They do whatever they are told to do through orders written on the backs of very large checks. And everyone who isn’t a Republican, with an IQ of 34 (the average for Republican voters), or a centrist Democrat who’s in on the con, knows it.
oh, so the new Apple Watch works just like an LG Smart TV https://thecybersecguru.com/news/lg-smart-tv-spying-investigation/
If you think the EU is going to protect you from mass surveillance I can only lol.
Strawmanning are we?
Just calling it as it is.
I’ve found that my behaviour is changing with all these developments of unintentionally surreptitious recording devices. It’s been a long time since I engaged in any kind of water-cooler type gossip discussions at the office, even in private spaces. Perhaps I’m in the minority here but it’s rare I’ll speak my mind outside of my own private home. Perhaps I’m in the minority here, but I can’t be the only one.
You are not alone. I have a Signal chat with some buddies as our “safe space” lol
The phone can still log what you type through the “keyboard app” – just FYI.
I actually use a personal matrix server for my friends. I don’t even trust Signal.
Of course, the problem with these watches is that they can be in your house in a pretty unassuming way – along with your TV, bias lighting, various smart speakers – even light bulbs – and of course, your phone – Apple or Android, they are all listening, all the time (and everyone knows it.) That’s the whole problem.
.. and vacuum cleaners which also often have cameras and mics
Doing a bit of archeology, Seven senators were spotted wearing Apple watches during first day of Trump’s impeachment trial. to follow that logic, incredibly high level, security cleared conversations happen with Apple watches worn…Apple has direct access to state secrets without any controls. Thats a terrifying thing for a private company to habe that level of access.
Adurbe,
When you put things that way, I personally know a lot of people working in sensitive government positions who have an apple watch. It’s not something I’d normally think of as a threat vector, but it seems like it could plausibly be a huge threat.
Products with tiny cameras and tiny microphones are no longer the domain of spies with lots of money, they’ve made it to everyday consumer electronics in non-conspicuous form factors and many of these devices can be remotely updated and programmed by manufacturers without the owner’s knowledge making owners prime targets for espionage.
It wasn’t That long ago Isreal infiltrated a pager supply chain and managed to turn Hezbollah devices into bombs. You dont need anything so.. direct… and gain access to massive amounts of sensitive data. What used to be the limiting factor was filtering useful information from noise. AI can practically “solve” that problem.
It blows my mind that such obvious security lapses were and are ignored at the federal level. When I worked for the county government — not federal, not even state, but local yokels — we were not allowed to have any “smart” devices nor anything capable of audio or video recording in any government building. No phones, no smart watches, nothing with a microphone or camera. We had personal lockers both in the administrative office and in the courthouse where we had to put all of that while within the perimeter, or else risk immediate suspension, followed by termination for a second offense.
Android and iphone, both does the same: record and transcript everything what they hear
“Another win for us Europeans: this dystopian nightmare will not be available in the EU.”
Correction – will not be “initially” available in the EU:
https://www.apple.com/apple-watch-series-12/#footnote-13
“Will be available in English to start and will not initially be available in the EU”