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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Well there's a surprise. In-home surveillance tech...

4 replies

PerkingFaintly · 18/10/2020 12:58

Obviously this was in no way entirely predictable.Hmm

Ring doorbell, Alexa microphone and speakers, linked Amazon accounts, linked devices... What could possibly go wrong?

They give "you" more control, innit? So if the "you" is an abusive partner, they're like every Christmas come at once.

How smart devices are exploited for domestic abuse
www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-54554408

OP posts:
Imnobody4 · 18/10/2020 13:11

I saw this on 'Click', it's truly terrifying.

Augustbreeze · 18/10/2020 13:27

Oh my goodness. Surely each user should have the ability to with draw/override the settings or something.
Very useful article, thanks. Stuff to bear in mind when advising any DA victim.

PerkingFaintly · 18/10/2020 14:43

From the article:

[IBM] has devised a set of design principles to guide other device- and software-makers.

It believes the onus is too often on targets of abuse having to educate themselves rather than product-makers having to think through the consequences of their creations.

"We believe the burden of safety shouldn't be on the shoulders of the end-user, and we felt it was important to shift at least some of that onus on to thoughtful designs," IBM's Lesley Nuttall tells BBC Click,

She says home devices, for example, could show alerts when they're remotely activated and have a manual override.

But the article also describes what anybody who reads MN Relationship board already knows: that the technology is embedded in a pattern of other coercive controls. So if the surveilled person does anything to undermine the surveillance device – turns it off or takes the battery out – the abuser attacks them for having done that.

In my own view, because this surveillance is by "naice", high-status consumer goods, rather than by an industrial-looking CCTV camera in the corner of the living room, the device appears like a normal and actively desirable thing. There's social pressure to accept it being installed and permanently on.

Visitors to the home will coo about "Oh, you have an Alexa! I'm thinking of getting one for Christmas! Is it fun? Do you enjoy listening to music and asking it jokes?"

Whereas anyone seeing a crude CCTV camera would go, "WTF? What's going on? You need to get out."

OP posts:
Antibles · 18/10/2020 15:52

It's often a one way street isn't it?

The abuser is the one who sets up the system and is admin for everything. So they can monitor what their victim is doing but the victim can't see anything of what they are up to.

Having a techie abusive partner is a nightmare if you're not computer savvy yourself. There is probably an IT skills gap between men and women that really doesn't help here.

Maybe any techie types could set up a thread with the sorts of IT knowledge it would help women to know. I know I am woefully ill equipped to deal with someone spying electronically on me and would worry that even if I started searching for online resources, they would be able to track my computer usage somehow to see what I was up to, incognito tab or no Sad and I would have no idea what to do.

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