Heather Zheng and Ben Zhao, computer science professors at the University of Chicago created a wearable that jams microphones. I immediately thought of Alexa/Echo/Google Home type things, but their demo video reminded me that we may be surrounded by devices that are listening to everything all the time.

This is a just a proof of concept, but with a smaller form factor, I could see people using this. I wonder if it might be more fashionable as a necklace or hat, so long as it doesn’t reduce its ability to jam microphones.

It reminds me a of the infrared privacy glasses that we saw a few years ago. I could see these used together to help insure some privacy in our increasingly surveilled world.

via Slashdot

One thought on “Wearable Privacy

  1. I like the idea of the devices being more fashionable — something small, inconspicuous and discreet would be great (e.g., lapel pin, ring).

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