Pokémon GO is taking over the world. Fact. The game was a huge hit in the 90s and now, in 2016, it has become a highly profitable global phenomenon. Since its launch, Nintendo has increased in value by nine billion dollars.
Furthermore, the game, which allows players to travel between the virtual and real world, received more downloads than Tinder over a 24 hour period. Clearly, there are more people out there who are interested in playing with PokéBalls than, you know, the other kind…
However, like with all things in life, the augmented reality sensation isn’t without its problems.
why Pokémon GO isn’t actually all fun and games.
Players, beware. It’s easy to become caught up in the game, but is catching a precious Pokémon worth putting your privacy in danger? (I imagine the majority of you answered “yes” to that question.)
For those of you who would like to keep your personal information under wraps, you may want to take a step back from your beloved mobile device for a moment. Pokémon GO is centred on GPS-based hunting, which means that Nintendo and developer Niantic can track the location of their millions and millions of users.
But that’s not all. We all know the app is linked to each user’s Google account. However, what you probably didn’t know is that when you signed up this way – some users have been able to sign up with a Pokémon.com account but that’s not available right now – you handed over full access of your account to the gaming gods. DUN DUN DUUUUNNNNN!
In short, this means that they can see and edit EVERYTHING! And yes, I do mean everything; your emails, your documents, your search history, your family photos, your raunchy photos, your thoughts, your feelings. OK I’m getting a little carried away here. Of course they can’t edit your feelings. However, it could pose a significant security risk because full account access allows a person to send emails as the user – basically the perfect hacker opportunity.
In short, we have willingly gifted both Nintendo and Niantic with our personal information and accepted a level of invasive monitoring, unaware of the potential risks. But is this going to stop people from playing? I highly doubt it – the majority of the Western World is hooked.
Flick over to the next page to see what a couple of lazy engineers did to improve the game tenfold (yes, that is possible). They combined a drone with Pokémon GO to make the winning combination.
Pokémon GO has done something pretty extraordinary – something that’s not really been associated with gaming in the past; it has encouraged people to go outside and be active. Well, unless you’re this group of engineers who were tired of walking around capturing Pokémon, that is. They “built a quadcopter capable of capturing the little monsters from the Sky.”
The drone featured above is without a doubt an insane creation. However, just because it’s off the ground doesn’t mean that the user is at any less of a privacy risk. Keep your wits about you guys and girls, I know you gotta catch ’em all. But what happens when someone wants to catch you?
source : viralthread
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