Opinion
Apple Watch must not become Big Brother
The boundary between personal data monitoring and mass surveillance has to be protected.
John GapperContributorWhen I went swimming in my local pool this week, my Apple Watch tracked not only my time on each lap, but also my heart rate throughout. Then I rode a Lime e-bike home, which noted my exact route, time and calories burnt - “GPS Tracked”, it declared proudly.
Apple was not the first to imagine heart sensors. In George Orwell’s 1984, the “telescreens” in the homes of party members recorded heartbeats that might reveal a plot against Big Brother. “You could not control the beating of your heart, and the telescreen was quite delicate enough to pick it up.”
Financial Times
Subscribe to gift this article
Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.
Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber?
Introducing your Newsfeed
Follow the topics, people and companies that matter to you.
Find out moreRead More
Latest In Retail
Fetching latest articles