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A comment on The next big Wi-Fi standard is for sensing, not communication (2021). Parent comment

Re:The next big Wi-Fi standard is for sensing, not communica... by camgunz on Wednesday January 12, 2022 @09:11AM (#29906492)
I think we're all being a little maximalist here? I think it's fair to say this article's focus is on the tech, so it doesn't discuss the cool stuff (incredible VR experience, sci-fi like gesture apps) or the bad stuff (Google knows when you scratch your ass). I think it's reasonable to read an article that doesn't mention any usage restrictions, look at the track record of tech, and worry about the privacy implications.

The Verge includes a whole section on stuff you agree to when purchasing a new laptop when reviewing them. Maybe it's a good idea for us to start insisting on some level of privacy regulation on new tech. This is purely regulatory right, nothing preventing things like VR--just preventing FB from knowing everything you're doing while using their VR headset, and selling that information to others. Maybe that creates an economic constraint, but this seems like a choice consumers can make. For example Amazon sells 2 versions of every Kindle: ad supported and not.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The next big Wi-Fi standard is for sensing, not communica... by ethbr0 on Wednesday January 12, 2022 @09:22AM (#29906612)
It's starting to feel like the #1 go-forward privacy law needs to be a mandatory opt-in choice requirement, with a viable refuse option.

It can be asked once at the device level, but regulated information needs to be specified at the highest level (e.g. "location information about an individual"), and then the concrete technical implementation left unspecified.

"Does it, or does it not?" is more important than "How?" Because legislation specifying "How?" will always lag technology by decades.

(But then again, this probably should have been done in the mid-90s, once it was apparent which way cookies were going)

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The next big Wi-Fi standard is for sensing, not communica... by camgunz on Wednesday January 12, 2022 @01:47PM (#29911171)
Right yeah, or something less like "pay $40 to opt out" either before or after purchase, and more like "earn $0.002/day by selling your usage data". I guess the overall worth of the data is lowered by there being less of it, but whatever.
[ Parent | on HN ]