{"id":40137,"date":"2016-07-13T13:32:28","date_gmt":"2016-07-13T17:32:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=40137"},"modified":"2016-07-13T15:48:06","modified_gmt":"2016-07-13T19:48:06","slug":"pokemon-go-raises-some-privacy-concerns-brock-experts-warn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2016\/07\/pokemon-go-raises-some-privacy-concerns-brock-experts-warn\/","title":{"rendered":"Pok\u00e9mon Go raises some privacy concerns; Brock experts warn"},"content":{"rendered":"

The dreams of 90s kids everywhere are coming true.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

People all over the world are downloading the mobile app Pok\u00e9mon Go, and have become what they have always dreamt of: Pok\u00e9mon Trainers. Even in Canada, where the app is not officially available yet, people have found workarounds and are playing the recently released mobile game.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With the use of augmented reality technology, players can view the digital creatures on their mobile phones in conjunction with what they are viewing and experiencing in real-life through their phone\u2019s GPS and camera.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There have already been numerous injury reports<\/span><\/a> related to using the app and concerns over privacy<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPrivacy concerns about Pok\u00e9mon Go are surfacing some of the ongoing issues associated with the access and use of our personal information by apps,\u201d says Brock University Communication, Popular Culture & Film Assistant Professor, Karen Louise Smith. \u201cUntil very recently, users were consenting to the provision of more data than Niantic, the company that produced Pok\u00e9mon Go, states it was actually using.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Smith says people need to be vigilant about the terms they consent to when they access games and other apps. However, she says corporations should also hold some of the responsibility when it comes to privacy protection.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCorporations have an ongoing responsibility to make privacy policies and other terms of service understandable in everyday contexts where technologies are used. Companies also need to be reasonable about what data they ask to access in return for the provision of a service such as a cell phone game.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Assistant Professor Dale Bradley says Niantic has hit the jackpot for the collection of information \u2014 the new currency in the online world.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cApps that can garner large audiences that frequently return to the app on a daily basis are the holy grail for business models based on data aggregation and consumer information,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recent data suggests Pok\u00e9mon Go could be on track to surpass some of the most popular apps in the world such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for daily use.<\/span><\/p>\n

From a technology perspective, Bradley says Go appears to be the first augmented reality app to gain traction and attention in the marketplace.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is likely due as much to the interest of Millenials in the content as it is to the decidedly \u2018nifty\u2019 augmented reality (AR), geo-caching nature of the game,\u201d says Bradley, adding that Millenials were around 10 years old at the height of the original Pok\u00e9mon craze.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe technological significance of Pok\u00e9mon Go is that it\u2019s the first app to provide a successful business model for AR by bringing it into the realm of popular culture,\u201d says Bradley.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A

A Pok\u00e9mon Go character is shown in front of the Maj.-Gen. Sir Isaac Brock statue in a screenshot captured by Brock University employee Matt Melnyk.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMG_5478\"

A Pok\u00e9mon Go character is shown in a Thistle hallway.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The dreams of 90s kids everywhere are coming true.
\nPeople all over the world are downloading the mobile app Pok\u00e9mon Go, and have become what they have always dreamt of: Pok\u00e9mon Trainers. Even in Canada, where the app is not officially available yet, people have found workarounds and are playing the recently released mobile game. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":40138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3319,4052,1,38],"tags":[3520,4294,4293,4291,4292],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40137"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40137"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40148,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40137\/revisions\/40148"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}