As small businesses disappear into the black hole of “pandemic restrictions,” major international corporations devour what is left of the market. Those institutions, which Carroll Quigley referred to as future “corporate overlords,” are rolling out new technologies just in time for the “Great Reset.”
Just when you think technology couldn’t get any more invasive
There’s nothing angelic about Amazon’s new wearable technology.
Halo, Amazon’s new AI health bracelet, offers body composition analysis, tone of voice analysis, sleep & activity tracking. Presumably, this new tech is another convenient application to bring awareness to users of such things as too much body fat or if their tone is a bit too abrasive or “condescending.”
While some individuals may benefit from both of these nudges, a recent review of Halo by the Washington Post (the unabashed purveyor of the loss of civil liberties) forcibly admits that Halo is the “most invasive tech we’ve ever tested.”
Authors Geoffrey Fowler and Heather Kelly wrote:
Hope our tone is clear here: We don’t need this kind of criticism from a computer. The Halo collects the most intimate information we’ve seen from a consumer health gadget – and makes the absolute least use of it. This wearable is much better at helping Amazon gather data than at helping you get healthy and happy.
Incidentally, Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.
So, we could reasonably expect the authors of this review, Fowler and Kelly, to soon have to look for other employment avenues. Either that or the review was a cleverly placed advertisement, designed to draw controversy to an app that could use some in house advertisement. And to target those readers who don’t seem to care much about their own privacy.
AI now informs people they are condescending, opinionated, and fat
Halo collects more invasive information than FitBit or Apple Watch. With no screen, sounds, vibrations, or any striking design, Halo uses sensors to monitor physical activity, sleep, skin temperature, and heart rate. The only way to read that data is through a companion phone app.
The wearable device collects new information like body photos (of a scantily clad user) and voice recordings, feeding the data into Amazon’s AI software for analysis.
Amazon says HALO requires users to be nearly naked for the complete body scan to calculate body fat percentage. This scan requires users to stand in front of their phone’s camera in their underwear for a 360-degree scan.
The shots then go to Amazon’s cloud for analysis.
Remember when people scoffed at the phrase, “Big Brother is always listening?”
This new device is. And it tells you when you are being condescending or sound opinionated. Although, supposedly, you can push a button and cut off the microphone. Temporarily…sure you can.
The WaPo writers seemed considerably more concerned with the device’s voice analysis, focused on the fact that it is not as accurate as they would like. No mention of the frightening reality that Halo possibly represents the last vestiges of privacy and personal data.
The Halo’s voice tone analysis is questionable on a whole other level. You train the device to recognize your voice by reading sample phrases, and then it listens out constantly for moments in conversation that go beyond your neutral tone. (There is a button you can press to temporarily turn off the microphone.) The Halo plots these moments as positive vs. negative and high vs. low energy, and then applies more nuanced descriptors to them – for example, a voice that registers as negative and low energy might be classified as “discouraged.” You can review a dozen, or more, of these per day in the Halo app.
“For the most part, people are relatively unaware of how they sound to others and the impact that may have on their personal and professional relationships,” said Amazon’s medical officer Maulik Majumudar.
Do we want another product designed to mine for personal data?
The Halo is designed to mine your data. As with all devices like this one, the privacy policy states Amazon won’t sell or share your data without your explicit permission and that you are in control of it. The writer’s of the WaPo article had this to say:
But that still leaves open plenty of other ways for Amazon to profit from your information. In an anonymized way, it can data mine the heart rate, activity, sleep and tone patterns of Halo owners, using it to tailor its health algorithms and learn about human bodies. Make no mistake: disrupting medicine is the next goal for big tech.
Medical industries are attempting to push digestible microchips to monitor patients’ intake of medicine from afar by their doctor. Halo is just one more step in that direction. First, there were the handhelds. Now we are in the age of wearables. “Ingestibles” are next in line on our way to merging man and machine.
Undoubtedly, those concerned with the direction in which humanity is heading will be labeled as Luddites and conspiracy theorists. We won’t be vindicated when we are proven right, either. It hasn’t happened any other time. One must wonder what kind of person would welcome such invasive technology. And could THEIR wearable technology eventually invade OUR privacy? Share your thoughts in the comments.
If I got that then what’ll the wife do? Lol
@matt in oaklahoma I was thinking similarly, if I want to hear I’m fat or condesending I’d just go visit my mum
@Matt in OK and Izzy,
Seriously, your comments made me LOL!
I mean seriously what happened to people?
Secrets? I just told my friend he’d tell his and they’d tell everyone so no secrets. FB and China didn’t need to spy on me hell just talk to Tim he tells everybody everything!
A device to tell me I’m in shape? Yeah I got 2. A scale and a mirror.
A device to tell me I’m being condescending or a jerk? I know I am that’s why I said it to begin with.
I got some beachfront property over here to sell y’all too. Oh dang my bracelet just went off again
“A device to tell me I’m in shape? Yeah I got 2. A scale and a mirror”
they’re reaching the point where they don’t/can’t know anything unless an authoritative device tells them.
Yup just look down
If you see one thing and not the other your fat
opps there goes my bracelet, watch and refrigerator again
Lol exactly
I don’t need a computer program to tell me that. I AM opinionated, and I condescend to those too stupid to get out of their own way. If we don’t stand up and call a Spade-A-Spade, we will deserve exactly what we get.
Hubby has been saying this for years. They are all way too big and if we don’t do something to stop them then we will be in that dystopian world that has only been read about in books.
Just to think, someone in Amazon thought this was a good idea.
Even worse, someone out there has or is going to buy one of these, thinking it was a good idea.
I dont need it, but I think I am going to go out and buy a new refrigerator while it is still “dumb,” before I no longer have the option.
Exactly. These big corps and big techs are doing their job. And doing it well. I mean, yeah it sucks that someone thought something like this was a good idea. But they only did it because there´s a lot of people out there willing to put everything concerning their personal life in the hands of others, and all for a bit of convenience.
So they don´t mind giving up their responsibility about their own good, they want someone else to take care of everything. IMHO that´s what really sucks in this whole story. Looks like that society from Wall.e animation.
I get it: thinking about these things can take too much time away from social media and cheap entertainment. Too much of a hassle to learn about and take care of one´s own health, location, mood, finances… It´s a PITA to be a responsible, independent and critical thinking adult these days. So let´s just get another gizmo that turns us even more into products and data cows.
Good post!
Ditto!
This is the perfect topic to illustrate the main difference between decent Americans and the self righteous Karens among us.
Decent Americans will look at this “join the Matrix” garbage, and say “No thanks! But if someone else wants to, they can go right on ahead!”
The Karens will demand that “Everyone must wear it at all times!!! And if you don’t it means you want everyone else to die!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!”
“And if you don’t it means you want everyone else to die!”
… thinking about it … people who comply with this 360-degree body scan thing just aren’t survivable except as kept cattle anyway, so ….
I plan to opt out of this trend…
pray for a very large cme, the best reset
I have been thinking exactly that–coronal mass ejection, for EMF to kill the grid.
No electricity –> no stores (all electronics), no gas/diesel (all fuel pumps electronic), therefore no trucking, etc.
I would rather see happy survival, but if the sheeple will NOT wake up, if the supreme Court will let the Chief Justics scream at them about riots if they hear the Texas case and the justices will break their oaths (promises to GOD–so they don’t believe in Him), etc. etc.
Well, then the only way for humanity to survive as humans may indeed be a CME. I am still desperately hoping for a happier alternative.
I don’t even wear a watch. Why would I want something like this? And why should I care if people think I’m opinionated and/condescending? The woke folks are, and that surely is considered a virtue among themselves. If someone wants to be part of the flock and get one of these, let ’em. I have more interesting things to spend my money on.
All of the above, and I don’t need a bracelet to tell me.
I’m laughing but it’s not funny! And I’m just gonna say..
OH HELL NO.
I am old old enough to tell people exactly what I think and not give a damn what they think of me.
I can’t imagine buying something like this. I’ve briefly considered a Fitbit before but my conscious choice not to own a smartphone precludes that so it wasn’t really a temptation. When I was going to buy a scale I actually had to shop around to find one that WASN”T bluetooth enabled. I will not own a “smart” fridge, or “smart” toaster or a car with all the dingy sensors and lane assist and all that. Heck, I won’t even own a car that’s not a standard! I want to shift my own gears and write out my own shopping lists, thank you very much. It helps maintain my memory and my critical thinking skills.
Besides, with all these beeps and dings and lights and vibrations around us, aren’t we eventually going to lose track of what’s warning us against what?
(Now I’ll stop before I start pontificating about the darn Roman legions and how they used to tromp by at all hours and scare my cat and take my hedges for fire starters.)
Redbranch,
Agree, I need smart appliances and cars ++ like I need another hole in my head.
Have a number of folks that think I’m nuts because I still schedule appointments and events and… with a written schedule and pencil, and yes I go through alot if erasers ???? and refuse to use an online scheduler or calendar. To much of our information is already out there somewhere and I have no intention of adding more than is already there.
Another bonus with that manual is that they don’t get stolen as often as so many have no idea what that third peddle is for. ????
“with all these beeps and dings and lights and vibrations around us, aren’t we eventually going to lose track of what’s warning us against what?”
that’s probably the intent.
Redbranch, I remember the Roman Legions well. Why, just the other day I was remarking how everything was fine until they insisted on building a Wall halfway across the property.
I had considered a Fitbit as well because of some of the monitoring elements for sleep – but the constant monitoring was enough to make me decide otherwise. I am trying figure out an alternative to dragging the phone with me everywhere for emergencies for the same reason.
Commiecunt “Technology” for All the Useless Drones in Our Society that Do What They’re Told & Believe Only LIES & HATE the US Constitution! May they ALL DIE SOON from COVID19 Poison Injections!
Daisy, please moderate the posts by this individual “TheTruthBurns”. This one is particularly obscene and offensive.
“those readers who don’t seem to care much about their own privacy”
actually quite a few don’t seem to grasp the concept of personal privacy at all, except enough to react with hostility to any mention of it.
“This scan requires users to stand in front of their phone’s camera in their underwear for a 360-degree scan”
cattle on a feed lot.
“And could THEIR wearable technology eventually invade OUR privacy?”
sure, but that’s not the point of it. the point of it is to identify and capture those who will voluntarily serve their masters, and identify and expel those who won’t. it’s “the nation that will not serve you shall be destroyed”, automated.
Was I the only one who thought of condescending and opinionated high-score contests?
Pity the fool who doesn’t like that idea!
That actually sounds like a lot of fun!
I could actually see some yahoo think it was a good idea for a “social” credit score, based off your halo points.
Another way to control the populace.
Just one more reason to not use Amazon, or anything Jeff Bezos is involved with. And yes, that includes the Washington (com)Post.
[30 years in the future]
Me: You know, Netflix used to ship movies by post.
My Amazon Smart Watch: 0.3% Productivity loss detected. Hourly rate reduced to $1.12 for 7m21s. Please refrain from talking on the packing line. Please say “Productivity” to acknowledge.
Me: productivity
** all credit to the poster tef e. birbs on Twitter**
“[30 years in the future]”
this year.