Tag: mobile technology news

Legal issues concerning the use of wearable devices attracts notice in Australia

As wearable technology gains more attention, the possible legal issues concerning the use of wearable devices is also attracting more attention from lawmakers in several countries. The Australian Law Reform Commission has begun discussion on how wearable devices could be used for illegal purposes. Google Glass, for instance, could be used to record video and audio without appropriate consent from the subject being recorded. The legal issues that wearable technology has unearthed could prevent the use of devices like Glass in the future.

Organization releases recommendations concerning the legal issues associated with wearable devices

The Australian Law Reform Commission has recommended 47 legislative changes concerning privacy and the use of wearable technology. The organization has suggested that legislation concerning the use of wearable devices to invade someone else’s privacy. Such a legislation would mark the first time the Australian government has taken steps to legally defend the privacy of a single person. The organization is also suggesting the privacy laws be drafted based on those that already exist concerning government surveillance.

Glass has come under fire in the US and elsewhere

Google Glass has been the subject of legal debates throughout the world, but these debates are not always focused on the possibility of invasion of privacy. In some states in the U.S., the use of Glass has already been prohibited amongst drivers. The reasoning behind this ban has to do primarily with the possibility of the device distracting drivers in the same way that other mobile devices do. Glass is not the only wearable device that has come under fire, of course, but it has become the most popular device to receive legal attention.

Legal issues could limit the use of Glass and similar devices

Devices like Glass can easily be used to record conversations and video without consent. These devices can also be used to find out sensitive information about a particular person using facial recognition technology and similar features. Because these devices could be used for potentially malicious purposes, the legal issues concerning the use of these devices in public are beginning to receive more attention.

According to the results from an Asian hotel booking website survey, smartphones are key to good vacations.

An Asian hotel booking website, Agoda.com, has conducted a study regarding travel habits and behaviors of people around the world, and what they found was that people from Asia feel that mobile technology is the most important thing to remember when on a vacation.

The majority of westerners feel the same way about remembering their credit cards.

The website held the survey online during February 2014 and involved the participation of more than 50,000 of the site’s customers. These individuals were from countries around the world and were asked what item they would least like to forget to bring on vacation with them. Asian travelers chose their mobile technology, hands down. Western travelers clearly felt different about the most important item that they would need to bring.

This helps to demonstrate the importance of mobile technology to the average person in Asia.

Among the travelers from Asia, 45 percent said that their smartphones were the one item that they would most hate to forget when going on vacation. In second place was credit cards, which were chosen by 29 percent of the votes from that region. Europeans and Americans, on the other hand, said that credit cards were more important to remember than their cell phones.

The responses from the European travelers said that credit cards were most important to 47 percent of them. Among Americans, that figure was 44 percent. Only 19 percent of respondents from Europe and North American said that mobile devices were the most important.

Survey participants from France showed the largest disparity between the importance of credit cards and mobile technology. Fifty eight percent felt that credit cards were the top thing that they would not want to forget to pack, while only 9 percent were concerned about remembering their smartphones.

In Asia, the only country that showed an exception to the rule where mobile devices came first was among the respondents from Japan. There, 38 percent chose their credit cards first while 28 percent selected their cell phones.