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As an existing Prey user (for my Android phone) I'm left wondering what time remains before the tides turn on this kind of service, living in an age where a bur

As an existing Prey user (for my Android phone) I'm left wondering what time remains before the tides turn on this kind of service, living in an age where a burglar can successfully sue for hurting themselves on your furniture while rummaging through your belongings, it couldn't be long. Here's a related article from last week: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/08/absolute-sued-for-spying/ http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/08/absolute-sued-for-s... wherein an unwitting supply teacher bought a stolen laptop, only according to the judge to have had her privacy violated by the company attempting to recover it. That example aside, it doesn't require contrived thinking to fathom scenarios where an "anti theft" feature of a conveniently placed (extremely cheap, mass produced[, say 5 years from now]) phone might be intentionally used to spy on someone. Compare and contrast with existing wiretapping laws and consider how similar these services already are (at least in my mind). It's also vaguely interesting that this user installed Prey and almost forgot about it, i.e. here Prey is basically your typical "crapware" that a tech friend might clean off the laptop along with accumulated toolbars and suchlike. (Sorry for the fragmented English, somewhat inebriated)

ubasu 15y ago
There are already several related apps that allow you to track your children, keep tabs on your spouse etc.
georgieporgie 15y ago
living in an age where a burglar can successfully sue for hurting themselves on your furniture while rummaging through your belongings Do you have a source for that? Frankly, I don't believe it. wherein an unwitting supply teacher bought a stolen laptop She bought a two year-old laptop from a student at an 'Alternative' school for $60. It had its serial number removed. Good luck to her in convincing any jury that she didn't knowingly receive stolen goods. The judge did't rule that her privacy was violated, only that "a reasonable jury could find that they crossed an impermissible boundary."
- sukuriant 15y ago
  Google: "thief wins suit against homeowner" Edit: actually, doing some more reading, it seems like the first case that I read was actually a freak incident. Other laws protect you. Now I'm curious about what case this person is talking about.
  - jrockway 15y ago
    Now I'm curious about what case this person is talking about. People fear things. One way of coping is to try to get everyone else to be scared of things, too. This article is a perfect place for that sort of thing: "Wow, you sure showed him, but I'm too scared to do anything bold in my life. So what you're doing is probably illegal, didn't you hear about that urban legend? So that's why I don't do anything bold, it's actually illegal and I'm a Good Person Who Would Never Do That." I'm not saying that's the motivation behind this particular comment thread, but that's how I interpret it. If you can't have a parade, you may as well rain on someone else's.
- ColinDabritz 15y ago
  It seems the 'burglar sues for hurting themselves' theme is a popular one. I've heard it a few times from various friends and sources. As far as I can tell it tends to be miss-represented, or non-existent. One of the common ones is the 'fell through a skylight' version, which is apparently sort-of true according to this: http://overlawyered.com/2006/09/the-burglar-and-the-skylight-another-debunking-that-isnt/ http://overlawyered.com/2006/09/the-burglar-and-the-skylight... In this case it was vs a school, and the case was settled before it was decided, which is as much a side-effect of the structure of our legal system as anything. While I'm sure some questionable verdicts have caused unfair rewards in cases such as this, I have to imagine that it is very rare, or that the cases are actually much more complex than they appear on the surface. It reminds me of people who laugh at the 'stupidity' of McDonald's hot coffee lawsuit ("well duh coffee is hot!"), where the more detailed information shows the reasonableness of the case (McDonald's coffee was dangerously, excessively hot, the plaintiff was in the hospital for eight days for third degree burns etc). https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald%27s_Restaurants https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Liebeck_v._Mc... I feel this is an interesting flavor of urban myth.

ubasu 15y ago

There are already several related apps that allow you to track your children, keep tabs on your spouse etc.

georgieporgie 15y ago

living in an age where a burglar can successfully sue for hurting themselves on your furniture while rummaging through your belongings Do you have a source for that? Frankly, I don't believe it. wherein an unwitting supply teacher bought a stolen laptop She bought a two year-old laptop from a student at an 'Alternative' school for $60. It had its serial number removed. Good luck to her in convincing any jury that she didn't knowingly receive stolen goods. The judge did't rule that her privacy was violated, only that "a reasonable jury could find that they crossed an impermissible boundary."

sukuriant 15y ago
Google: "thief wins suit against homeowner" Edit: actually, doing some more reading, it seems like the first case that I read was actually a freak incident. Other laws protect you. Now I'm curious about what case this person is talking about.
- jrockway 15y ago
  Now I'm curious about what case this person is talking about. People fear things. One way of coping is to try to get everyone else to be scared of things, too. This article is a perfect place for that sort of thing: "Wow, you sure showed him, but I'm too scared to do anything bold in my life. So what you're doing is probably illegal, didn't you hear about that urban legend? So that's why I don't do anything bold, it's actually illegal and I'm a Good Person Who Would Never Do That." I'm not saying that's the motivation behind this particular comment thread, but that's how I interpret it. If you can't have a parade, you may as well rain on someone else's.
ColinDabritz 15y ago
It seems the 'burglar sues for hurting themselves' theme is a popular one. I've heard it a few times from various friends and sources. As far as I can tell it tends to be miss-represented, or non-existent. One of the common ones is the 'fell through a skylight' version, which is apparently sort-of true according to this: http://overlawyered.com/2006/09/the-burglar-and-the-skylight-another-debunking-that-isnt/ http://overlawyered.com/2006/09/the-burglar-and-the-skylight... In this case it was vs a school, and the case was settled before it was decided, which is as much a side-effect of the structure of our legal system as anything. While I'm sure some questionable verdicts have caused unfair rewards in cases such as this, I have to imagine that it is very rare, or that the cases are actually much more complex than they appear on the surface. It reminds me of people who laugh at the 'stupidity' of McDonald's hot coffee lawsuit ("well duh coffee is hot!"), where the more detailed information shows the reasonableness of the case (McDonald's coffee was dangerously, excessively hot, the plaintiff was in the hospital for eight days for third degree burns etc). https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald%27s_Restaurants https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Liebeck_v._Mc... I feel this is an interesting flavor of urban myth.