Apple is developing software that can detect when iPhone owners are using their cameras and disable the function, a report last week discovered.
The technology would trigger an infrared sensor, like the kind that is often installed at concert venues, which would instruct the iPhone to shut off its camera. Apple filed the patent application 18 months ago in California, but only became public knowledge after the Daily Mail uncovered the documents.
Apple said the company created the software to prevent users from recording and distributing videos of live concerts to which broadcasters have already bought exclusive rights. But media reform groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Free Press have said that the "kill switch" technology carries with it a more ominous implication - such as what would happen if a government received access to the software.
The technology "could potentially be used to suppress legitimate speech." Government access to the software is also particularly dangerous in countries in the Middle East where new media served an important role in several revolutions against oppressive dictatorships, EFF staff attorney Julie Samuels said.
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
I'm not surprised, I was wondering when this type of thing would come out not only for the iPhone, but for all phones/cameras/etc.
I just want to know... if police get to turn off the cameras when breaking the law and beating citizens, can I get one that shuts off cameras as I run red lights?
I'm just saying... they're not supposed to be above the law... so... all things being equal...