Oliver Stone has branded the gaming app Pokémon Go as a “new level of invasion” of privacy that could lead to “totalitarianism”.
Pokémon Go utilizes the GPS in smartphones to track users wherever they go.
The film director says that ‘invasion’ of privacy in the gaming app is part of the wider practice of ‘surveillance capitalism’
The Guardian reports:
The American reportedly voiced concerns over the game as he promoted his new movie about NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden at Comic-Con International.
After he was asked about security concerns associated with Pokémon Go, Stone said companies were carrying out “surveillance capitalism” by monitoring people’s behaviour.
According to Time magazine, he told the Comic-Con audience in San Diego: “It’s not funny. What’s happening is a new level of invasion.
“The profits are enormous here for places like Google. They’ve invested a huge amount of money in data mining what you are buying, what you like, your behaviour.
“It’s what some people call surveillance capitalism.”
He added: “You’ll see a new form of, frankly, a robot society. It’s what they call totalitarianism.”
Pokémon Go, which is free to download, has faced criticism over claims it could access a player’s entire Google account, including email and passwords.
The app’s makers, Niantic, insisted the move was unintentional and reassured users it was not collecting any exceptional data.
Niamh Harris