Privacy with an internet-connected HD camera pointing at your face most of the day?

Privacy & Security
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One of the things I’ve always found uncomfortable about modern tech is the obsession with pointing internet-connected high resolution cameras in all directions, especially on smartphones.

One of the many reasons I went for a Kompakt is that it does not have a camera facing me, unlike pretty much every other phone these days, including the LP3 (which otherwise was a strong contender).

I also don’t particularly like that phones have cameras on the back that can’t be physically covered (unless you get a special case) like e.g. my work laptop has.

As I am keeping a separate smartphone (switched off most of the time) for the camera, I have not only removed the camera app on the Kompakt but also slipped a thin bit of paper into the case to physically cover up the camera.

This sort of action typically gets me labelled as a tin foil hat looney in a world where everyone else is happy sharing absolutely everything about themselves on FarceBook, but I’m owning it.

How do others feel about privacy when it comes to cameras, especially on phones?
Does anyone want to compare tin foil hat designs? :crazy_face:

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I put a sticker on my laptop camera so I know the feeling. For my Samsung phone I bought an etui with slider which physically covers the camera.
Fun fact: even Mark Zuckerberg puts tape on his laptop camera :smiley:

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completely unnecessary thing, there’s been micro-drones the size of pollen grains flying around watching us all for a long time. Joke :slight_smile:

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@janlo haha and let’s don’t forget about bird robots watching us everywhere we go! (Birds Aren't Real - Wikipedia)

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Hmm, might need to smear local honey on my tin foil hat :thinking:

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Bro, I’ve seen a recent meme about it but when I tried googling for it, I found another one: https://www.thedronebird.com/ XD

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I had to login and post about this. We may joke, but the engineers and world rulers are not joking.

Forbes has a good article about the Internet-of-Bodies (IoB) that doesn’t quite go as in-depth as I would like; however, there are legal reviews, multinational company articles and NIH peer-reviewed studies. You can follow the technology development with Purdue University’s IoB Team!

Going even further, there are V2X technologies that have been quietly developed over the last several years. Here’s a presentation by a proponent of V2X technologies and the corresponding PPT they developed.

Of course, this is all being implemented for the Greater Good ™. And the term “micro-drones” doesn’t even need the “joke” qualifier, as evidenced by a recent study.

I almost forgot to add that there are patents to pay people based on IoB sensors detecting the level of work an individual performs.

There are very real reasons I’ve chosen Kompakt, and their focus on privacy is amongst the top 3.

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This is one of the reasons I’m interested in open hardware (things like the MNT reform) where every component can be user maintained and interrogated. Sadly not a place there the kompakt is, or may ever be (who knows) but it has utility still the same.

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