Recently, a woman in Brooklyn received a strange notification on her phone which read “Your current location can be seen by the owner of this AirTag.”
At 1 a.m., her notification chimed saying one AirTag device was first seen tracking her at 5:51 a.m. the day before and a second had first been detected later that afternoon. What alarmed her the most was the notifications included a map with a red line showing exactly where she had just walked—from the bar to her apartment.
Upon consultation with a friend, she searched through all her belongings for a tracking device, changed into new pair of clothes, examined her phone case, yet found nothing unusual. She walked the streets around her apartment building and watched the red line follow her.
This is not a new incident. Several women around the US have reported similar incidents. Incidents as such root down to only one question: “Are these the repercussions of those technology built for our own convenience?” Technology has, no wonder, eased our lives.But, is it really a blessing in disguise?
Similar Past Incidents
Previously in December 2021, a 10-year-old kid asked Amazon Alexa for a challenge. In response, Alexa gave her a ‘simple’ challenge. “The challenge is simple: plug in a phone charger about halfway into a wall outlet, then touch a penny to the exposed prongs.”
After the mother reported the incident, an Amazon spokesperson told CNBC that the error that caused the problem had been fixed and added “Alexa is designed to provide accurate, relevant, and helpful information to customers. As soon as we became aware of this error, we took swift action to fix it.” While the defensive response might sound legit, the repercussions are uncanny.
The other side of Technology
Technology was invented to ease human life. Today, technology has helped us scale the dimensions of the moon, check for water on Mars, find the edges of the universe, innovate breakthroughs for previously incurable diseases and many more. However, this very technology seems to be backfiring us in ways that are beyond our level of imagination.
Technology is a huge part of our daily lives. It allows immediate access to your very being and allowed schools to continue in the face of a pandemic. People have continued to work from home in pajamas because of technological advances. However, incidents as such are an eye-opener as to how lethal technology can be in the wrong hands.
Today, everything in the world is computerized, digitized, and groomed for virtual use—be it driverless cars or automated windows. With that being told, it is certain that we are taking something humane from humans which distinguishes us from other creatures and that is the ability to be humans. So, technology can be a boon, but it is admittedly a curse. Nevertheless, it depends on which side of the fence we happen to be standing on.
Also Read: MachineQ Partners with CoreKinect to Implement Asset Tracking Solutions
