Patent != Feature
Apple patents tech that lets government disable iPhone video, camera and wi-fi
11–20 of 30 posts
Re: Apple patents tech that lets government disable iPhone video, camera and wi-fi
#12This is good. Apple is probably the least likely company to implement something like this, so the fact that they own this patent means that other companies may have a harder time implementing this feature.
Re: Apple patents tech that lets government disable iPhone video, camera and wi-fi
#13The source of the boing boing post: http://cis471.blogspot.com/2013/08/apple-patents-wireless-ca... He also mentions there are legitimate but less headline-worthy uses for this: > While the patent does use "covert police or government operations" as an example of an application, it also mentions legitimate applications, for example, stopping cameras in a locker room or other place where one has a reasonable expectati…
It'd be pretty great if phones couldn't get make/get calls in movie theaters (aside from emergency calls).
It'd be pretty great if people were polite enough not to make/take calls in movie theaters.
Our devices should not dictate such a thing, unless the feature is a "hey, I recommend that you not be an asshole, but you can disable me if you really want".
Re: Apple patents tech that lets government disable iPhone video, camera and wi-fi
#14The source of the boing boing post: http://cis471.blogspot.com/2013/08/apple-patents-wireless-ca... He also mentions there are legitimate but less headline-worthy uses for this: > While the patent does use "covert police or government operations" as an example of an application, it also mentions legitimate applications, for example, stopping cameras in a locker room or other place where one has a reasonable expectati…
I find the idea that there are legitimate uses for this technology a bit questionable. There have been important photos taken in locker rooms. There is a reasonable expectation of privacy at times, but it is enforced by social pressure, not a technology backdoor. If someone really wants to take surreptitious locker room photos, they can, and do, find ways around tech like this. The inverse is also true. If someone ha…
Exactly. I think the best way to combat people who take pictures in places they shouldn't is by adding a camera sound that can't be disabled or turned down. I believe I read that's how it is in Japan.
Re: Apple patents tech that lets government disable iPhone video, camera and wi-fi
#15Not sure why this is being covered again. The patent is from last year. There were plenty of articles about it back then, here is one - http://www.zdnet.com/apple-patent-could-remotely-disable-pro...
Re: Apple patents tech that lets government disable iPhone video, camera and wi-fi
#16This is good. Apple is probably the least likely company to implement something like this, so the fact that they own this patent means that other companies may have a harder time implementing this feature.
Really. What has Apple ever done to make you think they value privacy more than say Nokia, Twitter, etc? Or, Aside from the fact that they don't do ad supported services, even Microsoft or Google?
The only thing I see them doing is deploying a allegedly end to end encrypted messaging system that rather clearly isn't[0], and participating in "PRISM" while loudly asserting their system is secure. I'd actually say this puts them in a worse position than say Google or Microsoft, since neither of them ever claimed to provide end to end security and in the case of Skype admitted as much in their ToS.
[0] http://blog.cryptographyengineering.com/2012/04/icloud-who-h...
Re: Apple patents tech that lets government disable iPhone video, camera and wi-fi
#17The source of the boing boing post: http://cis471.blogspot.com/2013/08/apple-patents-wireless-ca... He also mentions there are legitimate but less headline-worthy uses for this: > While the patent does use "covert police or government operations" as an example of an application, it also mentions legitimate applications, for example, stopping cameras in a locker room or other place where one has a reasonable expectati…
While those uses may be ``legitimate'' in the sense that they enforce social norms, it is important that users are able to use their own discretion; laws exist---where appropriate (and sometimes not)---to help deter such things, but a citizen has a right to disobey that law if they so choose. If Apple decides to implement this technology, they are choosing enforcement before any legal process: They, or whomever is controlling such an anti-feature, are acting above the law, because these devices so heavily influence their users' lives.
Lawrence Lessig goes into the concept of social norms and the dangers of this type of enforcement in Codev2 (http://codev2.cc/); he summarizes it as follows:
> Thus, four constraints regulate this pathetic dot—the law, social norms, > the market, and architecture—and the “regulation” of this dot is the sum of > these four constraints. Changes in any one will affect the regulation of the > whole. Some constraints will support others; some may undermine others. > Thus, “changes in technology [may] usher in changes in . . . norms,” and the > other way around.
Who decides what is and is not a ``good'' time to use this anti-feature? The RIAA might want this feature enabled during concerts, for example, and try to compel Apple to do so---DRM in the real world. This is a slippery slope that one should not go down.
> [...] stopping cameras in a locker room or other place where one has a reasonable expectation of privacy.
Sort of like I have a reasonable expectation when using my personal devices?
Re: Apple patents tech that lets government disable iPhone video, camera and wi-fi
#18This is good. Apple is probably the least likely company to implement something like this, so the fact that they own this patent means that other companies may have a harder time implementing this feature.
[deleted]
Re: Apple patents tech that lets government disable iPhone video, camera and wi-fi
#19Not sure why this is being covered again. The patent is from last year. There were plenty of articles about it back then, here is one - http://www.zdnet.com/apple-patent-could-remotely-disable-pro...
Perhaps, because the inventions covered by this patent are patently relevant to social issues of the day.
(Pun un-intended.)
Re: Apple patents tech that lets government disable iPhone video, camera and wi-fi
#20This was widely covered over two years ago, when the patent application was published. Boing Boing was among those that covered it [1].
It was also widely covered a year ago, when the patent issued. Again, Boing Boing covered it [2]. That article was written by the same author as the present article. In that article, he mentioned likely legitimate uses (movie theaters), and said that the paranoid side of him imagined government might use it for bad purposes.
This new article seems to be redundant. Everything it says was already covered in their second article.
[1] http://boingboing.net/2011/06/16/apple-patents-mobile.html
[2] http://boingboing.net/2012/08/30/apple-granted-patent-for-lo...