If you are like me and watch Person of Interest (CBS) or Covert Affairs (USA), then you’ve seen this concept in action. And, I bet you never once considered what that really means.
What am I talking about? When Benjamin Linus asks Reese or Shaw to clone a subject’s phone- in seconds, at best. Or, when Calder Michaels had his girlfriend tap a spy’s phone to download all the information.
Well, it’s not so ‘science-fiction-y’ any more. There’s a company called Keyssa that has been offering this “benefit” for a while. Under the direction of Eric Almgren, the firm’s CEO.
Keyssa calls this transaction “kiss connectivity”, but it’s really high frequency radio transmission. This powerless, wireless connection puts network connectivity or Bluetooth to shame.
How fast are we talking about? How about 6 gigs of data a second, as long as the devices are about 1 cm apart? (That’s less than ½ inch for you non-metric aware folks.) If there’s only one unit on the wireless system, the best that transfer could be is about 1/5 that rate- about 1.3 GB/s. USB transfer is a little faster- hitting about 5 GB/s, but that’s USB3 and this transfer system needs cables.
Keyssa hopes you can take your phone or tablet to a kiosk (think RedBox)- and in about 3 seconds download that movie you want to watch. And, this transfer will use little of the device’s power, so you can really watch that 2 hour movie in all it’s glory, without running out of juice.
Keyssa promises that our phones and tablets will be using this technology pretty soon. They’ve been keeping it under wraps for about a year and half as they worked out the kinds. (Samsung has already bought into this technology.)
But, the technology scares me. Because it means that my data on my device would be at risk. I don’t want my phone cloned so some government agency- or criminal- can monitor what I do. No, I am not a criminal- but I am private. What I want to share is my business- and, should I elect to keep something private- that’s my legal right.
At least there is another potential benefit of this technology. Keyssa hopes to have the unit (smartphone or tablet) get it’s battery charged the same way. That means no ports on the phone (or the tablet) would be needed. (Their data transmission already means you wouldn’t need a USB port; this new use obviates the need for a socket to bring in electric power.) So, the device (phone, tablet) can be truly water-proof and less subject to environmental damage.
I saw ads for this technology a while back. Two phones close to each other share information. They had to be the same make and model. The ads disappeared. But I am sure what has been shown on person of interest is closer to reality than we want. And when it happens we will be the last to know and will have been compromised for some time.
Ann Mullen recently posted..5 Tips For Effective Business Blogs
An ad, a tv show- nowadays it’s getting really hard to tell the difference, Ann. So much product placement.
And, yes, in real life, we all will know about months after it is routine. Like the US Marshalls operating fake air towers in our cities to intercept ALL cell phone transmission…
I think we have to assume we have no privacy. Perhaps if you handwrite something on paper lightly in invisible ink and the reader immediately burns it and you trust the reader not to be a blabber mouth and who doesn’t have dementia thus forgetting the message.
Just don’t write or say anything into the air or a phone or on skype because you are not being paranoid, they are listening.
Shoot, I probably am now on their radar for this comment.
Ann recently posted..5 Tips For Effective Business Blogs
I am stubborn, Ann. (Moi? You must be joking!) I won’t concede that others have the right to my personal information.
I complained when the government agencies read our mail- and have not stopped just because now it is easier for them to steal my personal correspondence. It’s why I have clients use two or three eMails to send me certain information- broken up in a fashion that only we know. And, that I have SECURE sites where information can be uploaded or downloaded. (No, not DropBox, Evernote, and the rest.)
And, I look forward to the improvements of cell phone security to render their data stripping impossible. (Oh, and I never have location services or GPS activated either. I’m a guy- folks know I get lost 🙂 )
I see you are doing the best you can. Personally I have to use my GPS because I KNOW I get lost. I even use it in my little town where everything is only 5 minutes away.
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I knew that a kiss was never just a kiss…I hope that this technology will be available to us soon because I would love to download movies in seconds.
Muriel recently posted..I Need A Bit Of TLC
You might want to download movies in seconds, Muriel… but do you want me to be able to strip out all your contacts, personal information, and pictures in that same amount of time?