My New Apple Watch is a Privacy Nightmare
Image courtesy of Techcrunch.com

The Apple Watch comes equipped with some labor-saving apps that are designed to make life easier when using it with your paired iPhone.

I can use my wrist to answer phone calls like a secret agent, I can take notes, talk to Siri, and even ping my phone when I’ve forgotten where I put it. For those of us who remember the 1990 movie with Warren Beatty and Madonna, or even the classic comic strip, there’s even a walkie-talkie app so we can live out our Dick Tracy dreams.

It also comes equipped with two apps that are going to cause a lot of people headaches; a remote shutter release, and a way to activate the voice recorder remotely.

I work in an industry where we are exposed to reams of confidential information, much of which we can’t even share with other parts of my organization. This combination of the Apple Watch and iPhone make surveillance and espionage not only unobtrusive, but also as easy as checking the time.

These are the result of me “checking my watch” in a public parking lot

Taken from my iPhone in my belt holster using the Apple Watch app. (Author)

From the same position, this time using the zoom function. (Author)

As far as anyone could tell, I was checking my watch…maybe answering a message, or reading a notification. There was no indication that I was taking a photograph, not even a shutter release noise.

That school in the background? It’s actually almost an entire city block away, across a football field-sized grassy area. (Author)

When it’s combined with the iPhone 11 Max Pro’s impressive zoom features, you can get clear pictures without ever moving your phone off your hip, or out of your pocket. When it’s combined with the ability to start a sound recording from my wrist, I could conceivably record an entire walk-through of a facility to be reviewed at a later point. Of course, with the ability to slip the bands off, it becomes really easy to hide the watch face in a pocket or even in a hand and take photos that way.

What makes it a voyeur’s dream?

The phone (and camera) could be dozens of feet away, and the remote shutter release still works, makes sense right? Except that if the phone is set on silent, it doesn’t make any noise. Still not getting it?

Voyeur + Apple Watch + iPhone =

This is our (empty) bathroom at home…taken while I was on the other side of the house. (Author)

Consider the thought of a silent phone taking photos after being placed in the ceiling of a dressing room or bathroom.

It gets worse

I forgot to mention, the Apple Watch App provides a live view of what the camera is seeing, even if you don’t take a picture. Anyone with a watch connected to a phone can monitor the room where the phone is while they’re dozens of feet away. So there’s no evidence to prove what happened if the phone itself isn’t found in an incriminating place.
['Matthew Woodall']
['Privacy', 'Technology', 'iPhone', 'Apple', 'Apple Watch']