Legal, Ethical, and Social Concerns

There is the question of the ubiquity of data at everybody’s disposal—what if when your SixthSense unit picks up somebody’s personal information when you are walking by them, and a screen pops up displaying that information? In other words, the visual aspect, connected to the Internet, and its ability to run searches so quickly can potentially be harmful to human interaction. It potentially could run search queries on everybody you walk past and then display their personal information. Clearly, there is still much research that needs to be done on privacy and these futuristic technologies. Google Glass, a wearable technology similar to wearing regular eye-glasses, has caused privacy concerns to be raised already. In June 2013, privacy groups issued a letter to the CEO of Google to answer questions regarding privacy considerations (Taylor, 2013). The future is uncertain regarding legislation required to keep some modicum of privacy for the individual.

Socially, there is some research done on impact of current technology. The key question is: will there be an even worse negative effect on human relationships as the world becomes even more digitized? Williamson describes five ways technology has negatively impacted families currently: 1) school performance drops with children who are continually using technology; 2) quality time with the family becomes less; 3) a less empathetic generation—lack of respect and care for others; 4) blurred boundaries—not knowing when to leave “work at work”; 5) the inside generation—children who, figuratively speaking, don’t climb trees (Williamson, 2013). These five things are only with current technologies—certainly we should be concerned about newer technologies in the future. It is not hard to see the downside of futuristic technologies: as we become more dependent on technology, we become less dependent on each other as human beings and the human familial structures that govern us.