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from the sure,-the-first-one's-always-free... dept.
Submitted via IRC for AnonymousLuser
Google will give 100,000 Home Minis to people with paralysis
Smart speakers aren't just cool gadgets to play with for some differently abled people, such as those dealing with mobility issues or vision loss. For them, a smart speaker could be an important tool that can help them become more independent in their day-to-day lives. According to Google's Nest team, they receive a lot of emails from people with disabilities, telling them how the Home speakers are giving them more independence. That's why the tech giant has teamed up with the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation to give away 100,000 Home Minis to people living with paralysis and their caregivers.
[...] Redd said the Home Mini gives him a way to control his lights and thermostat easily, and it can make sure he can call family and friends if he needs help. The speaker's ability to set alarms, play music and trivia and make lists could be especially useful to people with quadriplegia, as well. Those interested can check out the official partnership page to find out if they're eligible and to sign up for a free Home Mini.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 28 2019, @05:32PM (7 children)
Is Google also spying on everything these people do? It's great that handicapped people overcome their handicaps. Super, that tech companies are offering them options, with which to beat those handicaps. I love it. But, is there a sinister side to all of this?
"Hey, Bob, you realize that we have a captive audience here, don't you? Why don't we exploit them?"
If, one day, you, or I, are reduced to dependence on other people, and/or tech offerings, will we have to surrender our privacy? "Oh, you poor, ignorant Soylentil - once you've installed our devices, you can't turn them off! We are responsible for keeping you alive now, so we have to monitor you 24/7/365!"
Those people who have lived all their lives with severe handicaps probably don't have the same concept of privacy that the rest of us do. Mom, Dad, caretakers, and medical professionals have always been there, barging in whenever. It would be easy to take advantage of a stunted expectation of privacy, wouldn't it?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 28 2019, @05:48PM
Paralyzed people can't fight back.
Google Attacks Paralyzed People With Surveillance Devices
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 28 2019, @05:48PM (2 children)
same way now.
9/11 didn't change things, it just cemented what the random 'Drug War' locker checks and post-Columbine school surveillance society ingrained into the youngins and what the older people have decided 'isn't a problem within their lifetimes, so why should we fight it like we did in the 60s (for those that were up in arms in the 60s, whether civil rights, anti-war, pro-free love, or drug usage.)
Now today we have gone from 7 years ago having people punched in the face for being 'glassholes' to everyone buying surveillance hardware to put inside their house or on their front porch and ignoring its privacy implications not just for themselves, but for others as well... even in contradiction of the laws in 2 party states, or in many cases in 1 party states, since neither party in the conversation directly had knowledge of the recording taking place in that encounter.
The only way this problem gets resolved is by grassroots level voting against this behavior, making each local jurisdiction decide on rules and enforcing them, then harmonizing those rules for a state level vote, and finally when each state has done so, making it a federal debate and finally ensuring there is a common rule for national and international providers to follow regarding this whole privacy debate, at least in the US.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 28 2019, @05:54PM (1 child)
Are you suggesting that punching "Glassholes" in the face made sense at all? You have no expectation of privacy out in public.
Maybe you would celebrate police punching "camtards" at a protest.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 28 2019, @07:17PM
Depends on where you live.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Sunday July 28 2019, @05:49PM
Sure would. Easier still to just ignore them, as has been done for centuries.
I say, let the handicapped choose - I had to pay $25 for my Google Home Mini, they get one for free - if either of us decides we don't like it after letting it in our home, our option is to unplug it.
We've had ours for about 2 weeks now, it makes a pretty good alarm clock, and the "Broadcast" feature is kinda weird/cool (send a short, one-way-ish, sound bite from your phone to whoever is in the room at the time...)
If you're only semi privacy paranoid, there's the option to not participate in their random samplings for quality improvement. If you're full tin-hat, yeah, don't plug it in, and quit carrying a cellphone while you're at it.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 28 2019, @06:14PM (1 child)
I shudder thinking about what will happen to these people on leap day next year.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 28 2019, @06:24PM
Leap day is going to be known as Soylent day from now on.