Will You Wear Your Social Media Identity?
I just read a story in Wired Magazine about a new barcode scanning technology on clothes introduced by a Netherlands-based online apparel company W-41. W-41 is introducing T-shirts and sweaters with a special logo that stores your personal info in a bar code that can be scanned.
If you spot one of these unique logos in the wild (bar, club, methadone clinic, DMV), you surreptitiously snap a photo of it with your phonecam and a tiny app directs you to the wearer’s LinkedIn, Facebook, or MySpace profile. You can then decide whether a “Hello” is in order.
While this new technology is really cool I do have to wonder about our personal privacy boundaries. It is one thing to “meet” people online, where seemingly you have the “Internet/Web” protection, but it’s another thing to offer up all of the information about yourself to a complete stranger standing next to you on a sidewalk (as a woman I also have to worry about safety).
Another thing that worries me is how this technology will potentially dim the personal & professional line even more. Â
What do you think? Am I just paranoid? How much do we let technology take over our life?
Related posts:
Did you enjoy this post? subscribe now to get all of the posts Comments (3)
Nelly, I completely agree! This just smacks of “big brother” and “stalker”. However, one distinction that has to be made is that this is a total opt-in program. If you don’t want to buy and wear the barcode-enabled clothing, you don’t have to. I am certainly not opting to purchase and wear anything like that! So unless there is another way for the camera to recognize me, I am not too worried.
Wow this is very interesting concept. Very innovative in getting information out there but this will definitely make you think twice about publishing something online you don’t want the world to see especially with just a click of a camera. nice find
It may seem like legalized stalking at first glance but this clothing could work as a socializing tool. It may help someone who is shy to break the ice to approaching a seemingly unapproachable person. It is another way to advertise yourself.