By Simon Davies Back in 2005, an entrepreneur by the name of Barry Stapleton came up with an ingenious plan to automatically ward off “unruly” children and young people loitering around high-end retail shops. Stapleton’s idea was to build an ultrasonic device that could be heard only by people under the age of 25 (the …
Read More...Category Archive: Bodily privacy
Exploring deep into the imaginings of an ICU psychotic
By Simon Davies A few weeks ago, I posted a blog on the Privacy Surgeon about my recent experiences during coma and clinical death. I thought at the time that this move was a little self-indulgent, but hey! This is – after all – a site dedicated to aspects of privacy, and that chapter of …
Read More...Why Transhumanism will be a blight on humanity and why it must be opposed
Sciences such as bionics, robotics and neural-prosthetics have moved in the space of thirty years from being potential aids to human life, to a philosophical – almost a religious – futurist movement that aims to replace the natural human condition. In this article, Professor Dr Sarah Spiekermann argues that this movement has become dangerous …
Read More...Exploring the flicker of life after death
By Simon Davies I died a few months ago. Literally died. Body functions ceased, heart stopped, lungs paralysed. Cast deep into a coma, I swung precariously between life and death for a month. Yes, I know being brought back from clinical death is no big deal in the larger scheme of things. It happens to …
Read More...My blindness – and the curious tension with privacy
By Simon Davies When I was a young boy, there was a kid in my class whose visual impairment was so bad that he had to sit front and centre of the classroom, using binoculars just to see the blackboard. To many classmates this was a hilarious spectacle, though there were always one or two …
Read More...Google takes a dangerous stride from your head to your home
By Simon Davies Odds are that the next big swoon for tech journalists will be the Internet enabled smart home, whose clever interconnected devices could eventually outwit even the most street-smart homeowner. So when market leader Nest Labs this week announced that it was opening up its “conscious home” platform to developers, most media commentators …
Read More...Google Glass goes on sale today – but there are relatively few circumstances where you can legally and safely use it
By Simon Davies Google’s controversial Glass technology goes on sale to the public for the first time today amidst a flamboyantly promoted one-day sale across the US – but “buyer beware”. The experience might not be as rich as you imagine. Ignore for a moment the rising tide of public concern about Glass – or …
Read More...The lawful tasering of an innocent man signals a dark age of UK policing
By Simon Davies The seemingly growing dysfunction within the UK police reached new heights yesterday when an officer was exonerated without charge after tasering an innocent 63 year-old man who is registered as blind. The officer claimed he had mistaken the blind invalid’s white cane for a samurai sword and neutralised him with a 50,000 …
Read More...The Google Glass Sex App is just the beginning of a horrific age of intimacy
By Simon Davies It has been revealed that Google Glass has mounted an app that allows the wearer to observe the act of sex from the perspective of the other partner. Apparently the technology requires both parties to wear Glass for the act. On the command, “OK, Glass, it’s time” the app then sends a …
Read More...Why I now support the legalisation of Assisted Suicide
By Simon Davies This is the story of my role in the death of a friend, and of the painful issues of dignity, autonomy and privacy that we encountered along the way. It’s a story that needs to be told, even though any form of assisted suicide is a deeply controversial. These are difficult issues …
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