Life Recorder 347
Bruce Schneier writes "In 2006, writing about future threats on privacy, I described a life recorder: A 'life recorder' you can wear on your lapel that constantly records is still a few generations off: 200 gigabytes/year for audio and 700 gigabytes/year for video. It'll be sold as a security device, so that no one can attack you without being recorded."
Rogue-like (Score:5, Insightful)
It'll be sold as a security device, so that no one can attack you without being recorded.
Except when getting stabbed in the back.
Hmm... (Score:5, Insightful)
Hunny! (Score:3, Insightful)
"Hunny, I demand you have your life recorder on you at ALL times!"
Please don't try to make this practical.
The Final Cut (Score:5, Insightful)
And they can make a great highlight video of your life to show at your funeral. Whether you were a good man or a bad man is all in the hands of the editor.
Re:Rogue-like (Score:5, Insightful)
So not only do you get to have your life recorded, but your life is stored in the cloud! Fantastic isn't it??
Doesn't have to be that big (Score:3, Insightful)
Unless they mug you for your life recorder (Score:3, Insightful)
so that no one can attack you without being recorded.
recording a crime is one thing, still having the recording afterwards is another. Having a sufficiently high quality record of the assailant's voice or image is yet another. This thing might, just be usful as a "black box" in a car, but to have it strapped to your person? Nah!
Lapels? (Score:3, Insightful)
A "life recorder" you can wear on your lapel
Who wears jackets with lapels all day anymore? This is not an irrelevant question -- I'm not sure where I'd put this thing if I were wearing just a t-shirt.
Re:Bicycling (Score:5, Insightful)
How about a bicycle-ride recorder, so law enforcement can ticket bike riders for not obeying traffic laws like they are supposed to?
Re:Law Enforcement Implications (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Law Enforcement Implications (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Bicycling (Score:1, Insightful)
How about a bicycle-ride recorder, so law enforcement can ticket bike riders for not obeying traffic laws like they are supposed to?
Or provide evidence when they hit pedestrians in crosswalks (as I've narrowly escaped, twice)?
Re:Rogue-like (Score:5, Insightful)
Is it just me, or do you live in a really, really bad neighborhood? Most people in my town just die of heart attacks, cancer, or car wrecks, with the occassional random act of violence. Not that this device is a good idea (unless you are the one selling them) but most people tend to die in ways that are less worthy of a James Bond movie plot.
As for being a witness for "every crime that ever happens near you", how many felonious crimes do you personally witness in the average day? I'm not talking copyright infringement, but about muggings, rapes, murder, burglary, robbery, etc. If your answer is > .009, you need to move. Soon.
I don't even know where to begin. (Score:4, Insightful)
If you live in constant fear of being attacked, you either need counseling or you REALLY need to move somewhere else. This country is full of small towns, medium sized cities, and even larger cities where you will be quite safe.
Re:In illinois (Score:2, Insightful)
I'm not worried about needing it.
http://www.rcfp.org/taping/ [rcfp.org]
But many other states have similar injunctions, and allow for civil action against the recording individual. And, there is a caveat that all audio portion of the recording can or does fall under the wiretapping laws of the state.
Re:Rogue-like (Score:3, Insightful)
You and Bruce both are thinking in a very depressingly straight-forward manner. This isn't for watching 9 hours of typing or to protect you against a theoretical pipe-wielding villain who doesn't know about disguises. You would use these to shore up a fallible memory, or for evidence in a lawsuit, or to save more images of your spouse before s/he passed away. The security implications are amusing, but trite. Ultimately, complete life recording is like the NSA's scheme with the Internet: Record enough garbage, and you'll be nearly certain to catch the important bits.
BS on 200GB/year for audio (Score:5, Insightful)
Regular telephone quality audio (from the "you can hear a pin drop" era) was considered to be about 8,000 samples per/second, which is in fact 64kbps for an 8-bit sample depth. This is uncompressed recording here. TFA can't beat uncompressed telephone quality audio? Really?
Re:Law Enforcement Implications (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Bicycling (Score:3, Insightful)
You forgot the most likely scenario:
The drivers are malicious arseholes.
You know the ones.
The ignorant dickheads who think that cyclists have no right to be on heavily used roads.
Re:Rogue-like (Score:3, Insightful)
most people tend to die in ways that are less worthy of a James Bond movie plot.
Most people don't need permanent recording of their lives to avoid being attacked.
So either you don't need the device, or you do and it's useless.
As for being a witness for "every crime that ever happens near you", how many felonious crimes do you personally witness in the average day?
How many muggings happen near enough that the criminal may think I had recorded his face?
How many people may think I had recorded their face somewhere they shouldn't be?
If I stay in the center plaza of my current city, Madrid, with an omnidirectional camera I assure you I'd record several dozens of pickpockets.
If I crossed that same plaza, alone, with the recording device hanging from my neck I don't think I'd still be carrying it by the time I reached the other side.
Re:Copyrights? (Score:1, Insightful)
Country by country, my friend. Most of the world is actually outside the US, and US federal laws have little or no relevance.
Re:Law Enforcement Implications (Score:2, Insightful)
too much obstacles in law (Score:3, Insightful)
Unfortunately, it is probably very unlawful to do it. I like the idea, I wouldn't mind it at all, if only I had access to the recording and could switch it off.
Various people mentioned laws against it, and also need for explicit consent (as opposed to implicit disagreement with someone doing that, which would be an alternative in society where such device is commonplace). I see another problem - at work, I work as a programmer, and it would be illegal for me to videotape my work and take it away.
Re:Rogue-like (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Bicycling (Score:3, Insightful)
Obey the traffic laws and I won't yell obscenities at you. That includes riding on the road in the correct direction, passing me on the left unless I'm turning left, and coming to a complete stop at stop signs. I can't tell you how many people I've nearly hit because they thought a line of cars at a stop sign meant they could just speed past everyone on the right and blow through the intersection.
Re:Rogue-like (Score:3, Insightful)
Why would anyone want to work for such a jerk?
Re:Bicycling (Score:3, Insightful)
Right, those two issues are balanced. One threatens the life of the bicycle rider. The other ... threatens the life of the bicycle rider.
Re:Rogue-like (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Rogue-like (Score:3, Insightful)
Change your thinking from "how many do you see per day" to "how many happen near you that you might have unknowningly recorded".
If you are in the area, and police are aware of your recording capabilities, they're going to ask you where you were. It might not be a court order, and you can probably refuse to answer, but if they are following every possible lead you're on the radar.
How would police know about you? Simple, you're going to look odd and they are going to ask questions at least once. Especially in a traffic scenario. They hate being recorded, so you're just as much a threat as as resource depending on where you live. Bottom line, you're likely to be noticed and once noticed likely to be used if at all possible.
Look at any typical city, find the local newspaper's website, and look at the number of crimes committed. "Police respond to..." means a potential crime - there's at least one a week. Where were you mister-record-everything guy, when the liquor store got knocked over, or the bank, or were you out walking when this home invasion occurred?
It doesn't matter how many you personally witness, it matters that they happen and you're potentially nearby. Your drive to work might go right by the liquor store, maybe even while it was robbed. You didn't see anything, but the camera caught the vehicles in the parking lot.
The "even worse" scenario is walking by a crime, not knowing about it, and being seen recording everything. Now the criminal has to get rid of a witness. I believe that's what Thanshin meant. You don't even have to see it, just be near enough that you seem like you might have recorded it. And once a criminal introduces himself to you by saying "Did you just record me killing that old lady for her purse?" you're in trouble. It only has to happen once in your lifetime to be a major bummer.
The original point was "every attack on you personally will be recorded," which has nothing to do with the number of crimes people witness per day. Every attack will be recorded, but it will be useless for the list of crimes posted above you, negating a lot of the benefit. Recorded but useless is not a prime selling point.
Re:Bicycling (Score:3, Insightful)
No sir. I hate cars. I drive a beat up 15 year old honda accord with everything stock. I'd love to share the road. It's just that about half the time when I see a cyclist he ends up breaking the law in some way that endangers his safety and my driving record. As a result, when I see a cyclist the first thing that goes through my head is "uh oh, what's this guy going to try to pull".
One thing that I see all the time is passing on the right. I may pull behind a cyclist and be stuck going 10 mph for a few minutes until I can pass. That's ok, I pull around into the left lane and give him plenty of space. After I get around him we get to a stop light. Instead of stopping behind me, the cyclist pulls all the way up to the intersection, illegally passing me on the right. If I'm lucky, I'm just stuck behind him again. If I'm unlucky, I nearly hit him as I turn right and he blows right through the intersection.
If there were a bike lane, I'd be fine with that. I am very much in favor of installing bike lanes around my city, and they are working on it. But until then, remember you have to obey all the laws cars do.
Re:Bicycling (Score:2, Insightful)
Especially the ones that you notice, right?