Dystopian Surveillance Is Becoming a Reality • Hacker News Board

Re: Dystopian Surveillance Is Becoming a Reality

#101

Post by Espressosaurus » Wed, Sep 16, 2026, 5:20 AM UTC

charcircuit wrote: post #74

Espressosaurus wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A realtime transcript—even abbreviated—is a recording.

Legally they are not the same thing.

Depends on the jurisdiction. No matter how you slice it's it's an interception, it may be a transmission (to the iPhone if nowhere else), and there is an argument to be made that the text extracted is a recording.

It is in no way settled law especially in places with 2 party consent laws like Florida or California. Nevermind Oregon. Or the Europe. A cursory search suggests France's laws have some teeth to them.

It also doesn't address the inadvertent listening problem.

Re: Dystopian Surveillance Is Becoming a Reality

#102

Post by charcircuit » Wed, Sep 16, 2026, 7:22 AM UTC

Espressosaurus wrote: post #101

charcircuit wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Legally they are not the same thing.

Depends on the jurisdiction. No matter how you slice it's it's an interception, it may be a transmission (to the iPhone if nowhere else), and there is an argument to be made that the text extracted is a recording. It is in no way settled law especially in places with 2 party consent laws like Florida or California. Nevermind Oregon. Or the Europe. A cursory search suggests France's laws have some teeth to them. It al…

It may not be settled case law, but I'm going to trust Apple's lawyers on this one.

Re: Dystopian Surveillance Is Becoming a Reality

#103

Post by metalman » Wed, Sep 16, 2026, 7:26 AM UTC

nuh uh, reality is distopian

we have entropy to fight, so the margins have always been small,and with narso/nialists running things it gets nasty while they seek scapegoats for the contradictions they have created

Re: Dystopian Surveillance Is Becoming a Reality

#104

Post by robocat » Wed, Sep 16, 2026, 10:58 AM UTC

unregistereddev wrote: post #56

edgyquant wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No it’s bad even for an individual why does someone I speak to need to ever have a transcript of our chat? I understand in a professional setting but if we’re just having a drink its weird

One intriguing use I encountered was a doctor who automatically transcribed the conversation during an appointment. This has HIPAA concerns, of course, and I think (hope, at least) that this was in the context of medical software that is designed to be HIPAA compliant. But it was an interesting way for a doctor to try and avoid missing something in conversation. I agree with you that it's weird outside of professiona…

I try to record many specialist professionals (after asking first).

Experts know what they are saying, and they often rapidly download dense technical information. I first noticed the problem after asking a friend for advice on handling a psych issue with a friend's child.

Otherwise experts talk and I listen and I understand, but I can easily forget nuance and detail.

I also learnt to record medical specialists talking to my mum, so I could replay the details to my dad.

Why would dad trust my recall? And will he trust facts if I've repeated them as a non-specialist? And perhaps dad picks up different aspects due to his own experiences.