Show HN: Omi – Open-source AI wearable for capturing conversations(github.com)
github.com
Show HN: Omi – Open-source AI wearable for capturing conversations
https://github.com/BasedHardware/Omi
101 comments
Makes me want a wearable white noise generator, except it's specifically tuned to jam speech transcription AI.
Seriously. It's bad enough sometimes that you go to friends house and have an Alexa responding to every half word. Now we have to put up with this?
For what actual gain? What percentage of a normal friendly conversation is something you want to actually review and document. Less than 5%?
For what actual gain? What percentage of a normal friendly conversation is something you want to actually review and document. Less than 5%?
As someone who is not neurotypical I actually could really use something like this due to memory issues associated with my diagnosis. Especially professionally.
Your comment made me think about it differently, thanks.
We don't need to jam these adversarially, we need a wireless protocol that enables polite behavior. Imagine if you were walking around broadcasting "I'm recording" and you run across somebody broadcasting "please don't record". The devices could prompt a conversation between humans.
Changing the dynamic to one that's resolved initially (rather than later, when somebody's upset because they didn't know they were being recorded) would be a significant shift I think.
We don't need to jam these adversarially, we need a wireless protocol that enables polite behavior. Imagine if you were walking around broadcasting "I'm recording" and you run across somebody broadcasting "please don't record". The devices could prompt a conversation between humans.
Changing the dynamic to one that's resolved initially (rather than later, when somebody's upset because they didn't know they were being recorded) would be a significant shift I think.
Except this "problem" has already been resolved (in the US) at a legal level; Look up your states stance on one-party vs. two-party consent for recording private conversations.
The majority (39/50) of states only require the consent of a single party to record a conversation. If you want to take issue with other people recording conversations they have with you, that is something you should take up with your state's legislature.
The majority (39/50) of states only require the consent of a single party to record a conversation. If you want to take issue with other people recording conversations they have with you, that is something you should take up with your state's legislature.
Wherever possible I think we should prefer ways of getting along with each other which make the state irrelevant.
It's never polite to record when you know the other party does not consent, but I'm not sure it should be illegal.
It's never polite to record when you know the other party does not consent, but I'm not sure it should be illegal.
Not everyone is polite. One might argue that most people aren't.
Wherever possible I think we should prefer ways of getting along with each other.
So do I. And maybe that works on an individual or small-scale level, but it sort of falls apart when talking about a society with tens of millions (or more...) of people with vastly different cultures, values, upbringings, beliefs... We can't just rely on everyone "getting along": we need rules and guidelines. We need laws.
Even in this thread you can see differing opinions on the privacy aspects of this device. When talking about something as important as privacy, I don't think we can afford to just hope everyone agrees with us and... what, ignore the people who don't? That doesn't seem good for society or people living in them.
Even in this thread you can see differing opinions on the privacy aspects of this device. When talking about something as important as privacy, I don't think we can afford to just hope everyone agrees with us and... what, ignore the people who don't? That doesn't seem good for society or people living in them.
To expand on this: A lot of this is because even if 90% of people get along/generally agree, it only takes a fraction of that remaining 10% to throw a wrench into everyone’s collective gears. The Internet makes it very easy for a couple of people to make a lot of trouble for thousands with minimal effort
I think that proposal is totally fair, and don’t worry I wasn’t trying to challenge you or something. Just wanted to offer another perspective!
[deleted]
It kind of exists; here's one such video demonstrating the (not as advertised, but still kinda works) results on a microphone.\
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyeCn7HlLck
Younger ears find it excruciating though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyeCn7HlLck
Younger ears find it excruciating though.
Omni (necklace)
+2 Charisma +1 Intelligence
A necklace with a helpful spirit living inside a silicon crystal. The spirit grows with every word it hears.
"First you wear it, then it wears you"
+2 Charisma +1 Intelligence
A necklace with a helpful spirit living inside a silicon crystal. The spirit grows with every word it hears.
"First you wear it, then it wears you"
Although people here are focusing on the conversation part (understandably, as it is part of its marketing), I also find the voice memo part interesting, especially for situations where you are working with both your hands but need to remember something. E.g., while driving, doing carpentry, working in a fume hood, and so on
Genuinely curious if people think this is a product, solving a real problem? My mind goes to critical privacy rights and would likely require offline use?
> Genuinely curious if people think this is a product, solving a real problem?
For people with memory issues, products like this can be life changing.
On a second note, imagine a world where everyone has perfect memory recall. The concept of "recording" someone is useless, as everyone around a conversation (e.g. sitting at the next table at a cafe) would be a 100% reliable witness to the conversation.
Obviously we would not fault someone for taking steps to train their memory to be better, so why fault them for using electronics to improve the limits of biology?
For people with memory issues, products like this can be life changing.
On a second note, imagine a world where everyone has perfect memory recall. The concept of "recording" someone is useless, as everyone around a conversation (e.g. sitting at the next table at a cafe) would be a 100% reliable witness to the conversation.
Obviously we would not fault someone for taking steps to train their memory to be better, so why fault them for using electronics to improve the limits of biology?
> imagine a world where everyone has perfect memory recall
This describes the plot of a Black Mirror episode: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2089050 (S1 E3)
This describes the plot of a Black Mirror episode: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2089050 (S1 E3)
That plot goes quite a bit further.
If you won't remember important conversations correctly (which you will not, given that your memory is garbage), or you can't distinguish words very well it is very useless to have a fallback recording and a transcript. For people who are generally hard of hearing it's also very useful.
I guess if you're very good at remembering things and have no disabilities, the use-cases are only bad. That said, we shouldn't let assholes fuck things up.
I guess if you're very good at remembering things and have no disabilities, the use-cases are only bad. That said, we shouldn't let assholes fuck things up.
It is a product. It is something people will buy. Lots of people just don't care about privacy that much, and the privacy risk factors with this are potentially lower than for other things people use with roughly the same level of "realness".
More to the point, lots of people don't give a damn whether the people they are talking to care about privacy, and/or feel that it's somehow their place to make risk decisions on behalf of others.
Garbage people are a large and lucrative addressable market.
Garbage people are a large and lucrative addressable market.
It seems like an ideal way to get shunned from society.
I’d also wonder about the legal situation; lots of places have laws against the covert recording of phone conversations, but I’m less sure about in-person private conversations.
I’d also wonder about the legal situation; lots of places have laws against the covert recording of phone conversations, but I’m less sure about in-person private conversations.
This is awesome! I have been thinking about what I'd want in an open source product after feeling unhappy trying to mess around with Bluetooth devices and overriding the assistant on an Android.
I really think an open source experience is going to be the only way this specific area will advance (wearable voice assistants). Apple/Google/Amazon are always going to very conventional in how they think about the purpose of their products, how personalized they can be, how much they can be expected to understand the user.
Looking at the Apple prompts, it's notable how uninteresting they are. There is no real theory of function, no sense of relationship or roles. They are just letting that all default to some unspecified common sense (as found in the model), handling only the surface level of these interactions. And they don't appear to bake that into the model because that wouldn't be enough, because those deeper interactions require state that seems pretty clearly to not be specified. Anyway, I'm really going off on a prompting tangent.
I think there is _really_ deep stuff people could be creating using these building blocks. The kinds of developments that are a synthesis of modified personal behavior and the tools provided. A tool this powerful is being wasted (theoretically and right now in actuality) if you don't modify behavior when using it. But that's a terrible way to make a commercial product, you can't expect people to change for you. And so they create these very bland experiences that are the projection of their current apps onto a voice or AI interface.
And they aren't wrong to take this conservative approach... it's very boring but very rational. I think this is a particularly opportune moment for people with their own very personal and specific ideas about how integrate AI into a particular part of their life to try to actually build that experience, with an authentic goal of just improving their own life. An open source stack makes that possible... including the device, because Google and Apple just won't let you use a phone that way.
So this is very exciting! My dev kit is ordered, and I await it eagerly
I really think an open source experience is going to be the only way this specific area will advance (wearable voice assistants). Apple/Google/Amazon are always going to very conventional in how they think about the purpose of their products, how personalized they can be, how much they can be expected to understand the user.
Looking at the Apple prompts, it's notable how uninteresting they are. There is no real theory of function, no sense of relationship or roles. They are just letting that all default to some unspecified common sense (as found in the model), handling only the surface level of these interactions. And they don't appear to bake that into the model because that wouldn't be enough, because those deeper interactions require state that seems pretty clearly to not be specified. Anyway, I'm really going off on a prompting tangent.
I think there is _really_ deep stuff people could be creating using these building blocks. The kinds of developments that are a synthesis of modified personal behavior and the tools provided. A tool this powerful is being wasted (theoretically and right now in actuality) if you don't modify behavior when using it. But that's a terrible way to make a commercial product, you can't expect people to change for you. And so they create these very bland experiences that are the projection of their current apps onto a voice or AI interface.
And they aren't wrong to take this conservative approach... it's very boring but very rational. I think this is a particularly opportune moment for people with their own very personal and specific ideas about how integrate AI into a particular part of their life to try to actually build that experience, with an authentic goal of just improving their own life. An open source stack makes that possible... including the device, because Google and Apple just won't let you use a phone that way.
So this is very exciting! My dev kit is ordered, and I await it eagerly
As an apparently excited user of this device, what do you think about the privacy concerns - both for the users themselves, but more importantly for people who interact with the users?
Just like with the prompt, I'm not thinking right now about what this is for everyone. I want something I can use myself, for myself. I will figure out what I think is appropriate in terms of privacy and social acceptability as I use it, and if I get it wrong that will be on me.
With respect to recording I'll also be thinking about what kinds of uses are responsible. The existence of a recording doesn't mean I have to use it or store it. I honestly can't recall a time when, if I had been continuously recording, I would have used that recording against anyone present. I would expect to be as respectful of the privacy of people I interact with as I am now... I don't recount what people say to me now without considering if that what they said might have been in confidence, without considering how what they said might be interpreted differently by a different audience or out of context, and without passing on my most good faith interpretation of what they said. That's a complicated rule system, but it does actually fire when I recount other people's statements.
But I'll also have to navigate how I use it, understand what things it captures that I don't want it to, and how that affects the people around me.
Also I just want to see what's possible, without pre-censoring what's appropriate before we know how any of this stuff works in practice. I'm willing to take the risk it's all a bad idea and I'll soon think of it as a dead end.
With respect to recording I'll also be thinking about what kinds of uses are responsible. The existence of a recording doesn't mean I have to use it or store it. I honestly can't recall a time when, if I had been continuously recording, I would have used that recording against anyone present. I would expect to be as respectful of the privacy of people I interact with as I am now... I don't recount what people say to me now without considering if that what they said might have been in confidence, without considering how what they said might be interpreted differently by a different audience or out of context, and without passing on my most good faith interpretation of what they said. That's a complicated rule system, but it does actually fire when I recount other people's statements.
But I'll also have to navigate how I use it, understand what things it captures that I don't want it to, and how that affects the people around me.
Also I just want to see what's possible, without pre-censoring what's appropriate before we know how any of this stuff works in practice. I'm willing to take the risk it's all a bad idea and I'll soon think of it as a dead end.
I’m not sure I understand: is it doing the processing? Or is it more like a Bluetooth microphone?
I'm confused - the title says "like Friend" but this appears to be a rebrand of the existing Friend pendant?
I agree the title was a bit confusing. There were actually two separate AI pendant products, both named Friend.
My understanding is that this is one of them, and they changed the name shortly after the other was released.
Edit: ah seems the title has been updated
My understanding is that this is one of them, and they changed the name shortly after the other was released.
Edit: ah seems the title has been updated
Why did they back down? The other one just stole the name and bought friend.com ? Even the best lawyers cant justify banning the original inventor?
I think they mean "Friend-like" pendant. This appears to be an open source implementation of the Friend pendant.
> I think they mean "Friend-like" pendant.
This renamed from Friend, and still (as of this comment) refers to itself as Friend in the home page footer links to the two variations of the product, Friend and Friend Dev Kit.
This renamed from Friend, and still (as of this comment) refers to itself as Friend in the home page footer links to the two variations of the product, Friend and Friend Dev Kit.
Omi has a pretty interesting architecture that has been completely open-sourced:
- The device itself is a Nordic Semiconductor BLE chip with GPIO, mic, and BLE.
- Audio is streamed (as OPUS) via BLE to the associated mobile device where some initial processing is handled.
- The audio is then passed to a FastAPI-based backend API service that handles integrations with Deepgram, etc.
Overall I think it's a clever way to handle this: you get to use very cheap hardware that sips power (battery) while utilizing the connectivity of the associated mobile device whether it be WiFi or cellular.
- The device itself is a Nordic Semiconductor BLE chip with GPIO, mic, and BLE.
- Audio is streamed (as OPUS) via BLE to the associated mobile device where some initial processing is handled.
- The audio is then passed to a FastAPI-based backend API service that handles integrations with Deepgram, etc.
Overall I think it's a clever way to handle this: you get to use very cheap hardware that sips power (battery) while utilizing the connectivity of the associated mobile device whether it be WiFi or cellular.
I wish it had settings to easily replace deepgram with a self hosted whisper or equivalent tech.
https://www.surveillancewatch.io/
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I personally have wanted something like this for years -- but at the same time im anti surveillance - what would be interesting is "anti-surveillance surveillance"
Imagine placing these in the planter in a conference room... board room, green room. Stick one in the head-liner of an SUV used by political folks.
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(also not sure why "LED" is listed as a feature on the "connectivity" section...
I had posted earlier about a redditor who wanted to make a thing similar to this with whisper and such, for transcribing conversations at a corporate conference...
--
I personally have wanted something like this for years -- but at the same time im anti surveillance - what would be interesting is "anti-surveillance surveillance"
Imagine placing these in the planter in a conference room... board room, green room. Stick one in the head-liner of an SUV used by political folks.
---
(also not sure why "LED" is listed as a feature on the "connectivity" section...
I had posted earlier about a redditor who wanted to make a thing similar to this with whisper and such, for transcribing conversations at a corporate conference...
This is super interesting IF they add an clear option to configure the providers so it's possible to only use on-device processing / self-hosted providers.
EDIT: from the FAQ in their discord:
> Q6: Will there be other STT (Speech To Text) Services allowed?
> Yes! We currently use Deepgram while we are developing the app but we plan to update the settings so users can choose a wide range of STT services like OpenAI's Whisper, Deepgram and we want to allow users to use there own hosted server for this.
EDIT: from the FAQ in their discord:
> Q6: Will there be other STT (Speech To Text) Services allowed?
> Yes! We currently use Deepgram while we are developing the app but we plan to update the settings so users can choose a wide range of STT services like OpenAI's Whisper, Deepgram and we want to allow users to use there own hosted server for this.
> Open-Source: Fully open-source, empowering you to customize and enhance your experience.
Fully open source? So the AI models used are all free software with everything available?
> Live Transcription: Capture live voice and audio with human-level accuracy using OpenAI Whisper and Deepgram.
> Efficient Summarization: Get instant insights and summaries powered by ChatGPT in just 5 seconds.
Nope.
Fully open source? So the AI models used are all free software with everything available?
> Live Transcription: Capture live voice and audio with human-level accuracy using OpenAI Whisper and Deepgram.
> Efficient Summarization: Get instant insights and summaries powered by ChatGPT in just 5 seconds.
Nope.
OpenAI Whisper is open source. I'm not sure about Deepgram. And I don't see a reason you wouldn't be able to implement a self-hosted llama backend for the summaries.
In the end this is relies allmost completely on proprietary AI as a service services, right? I think the exact services should be advertised as well to help understand the limitations of the device.
E.g. Can I use this device for any language or is it just English. Can it do translations?
E.g. Can I use this device for any language or is it just English. Can it do translations?
Super interesting product! I like the pivot from mentor to friend. How is this different from the Humane pin? cheaper + open source/ no projector?
[deleted]
Been using it for months, really like it!
I have been using it on and off for a few months since getting the device delivered through the kickstarter funding campaign . The code base keeps changing frequently and isn’t stable . But there is an active and helpful discord channel . Initially there was an option to bring your own API keys from open ai and deepgram . But now the ability to bring own api keys seems to be gone and that will concern me about privacy etc .,
. The design is simple , device collects the voice sends it to deepgram , transcript is stored on device and then shared with open ai with relevant prompts to summarise the discussion and do what ever you want through plugins that can be configured. Use it primarily as a backup / secondary notes taker in meetings . Think of it like a Microsoft teams copilot or firefly equivalent for zoom etc There is a option to store the voice and transcripts to your own gcp bucket which is nice if you want to remember / do any prompt engineering on your meeting transcripts Something like this will replace the expensive meetings / note taking apps The integration with outlook / calendar apps is flaky and the level of details and ability to setup next steps / meetings schedule through transcripts is weak
So not only does it record everybody you talk to without meaningful consent or any realistic way to escape it, but it also uploads the results to a bunch of cloud services run by sleazeballs and idiots.
Could you give some detail on how does it help you?
How is this different from the Humane pin? cheaper + open source/ no projector?
I hope for the privacy focused among of us, that this fails.
Don’t wear one of these near me. I don’t want you recording our everyday conversations as a matter of habit. Ask permission first.
What about an autistic person if they could use it for real-time high level cues on the primary emotion being conveyed?
When my son was growing up there were times I wish he didn’t have to struggle or guess as much.
When my son was growing up there were times I wish he didn’t have to struggle or guess as much.
Because that's not going to be reliable, and doesn't solve any of the other issues with this technology. Please don't shoehorn us into these conversations about insane privacy-invading gadgets.
(I do think AI/LLMs have a lot of potential for making life easier for autistic people, but ... this isn't it.)
(I do think AI/LLMs have a lot of potential for making life easier for autistic people, but ... this isn't it.)
This! LLMs have a lot of potential to fill the "support person" role for high-functioning autistics.
Healthcare is giving autistic people GPU credits every month
Do you tell the same to millions of people who wear headphones and Meta Raybans?
Millions of people don’t wear Meta Raybans yet, and headphones aren’t generally recording me without my permission.
In CA, recording me in a setting where I have the expectation of privacy is illegal, unless you have asked my permission first.
So yes, the law tells that to “millions of people,” if that many people decide to start recording conversations.
That has nothing to do with using an AI assistant that only listens to your voice and doesn’t store the recordings.
In CA, recording me in a setting where I have the expectation of privacy is illegal, unless you have asked my permission first.
So yes, the law tells that to “millions of people,” if that many people decide to start recording conversations.
That has nothing to do with using an AI assistant that only listens to your voice and doesn’t store the recordings.
This was covered with Google Glass ten years ago: <https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2013/06/14/glasshole>
This is a pretty poor response if you're trying to sell a product.
Yes. Get your weirdo cameras away from me.
Move to a jurisdiction that requires all-party consent for recording.
Or alternatively, get with the times and recognize that people will sometimes offload some of their mental processing onto silicon.
Or alternatively, get with the times and recognize that people will sometimes offload some of their mental processing onto silicon.
It makes you wonder what the legal implications are of owning an Amazon, Google or Apple device with a voice assistant turned on in one of these jurisdictions.
Voice assistants have a wake word. There is low power circuitry that is running locally listening for a specific series of syllables and a buffer of a second or two of audio.
Once that wake word circuit detects that series of syllables, then it activates the rest of the device and starts streaming the buffer and current audio into whatever systems it has for transcription (or cloud).
In many cases, this happens locally. If you have an iPhone, put it airplane mode and say "Siri, what time is it?" And it will respond - all processing is local, no recoding on the cloud for that request. Some other requests may require additional processing. "Hey Siri, where am I?" -> "To do that, you will need to turn off airplane mode."
If you have an Amazon device, enable the "Start of request sound" ( https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=21341310011 ). With this in place, you can then hear when the wake word has been triggered.
None of these devices are constantly recording or streaming to the cloud (aside: consider the network and compute requirements if every iPhone or Android was constantly streaming sound to Apple or Google for it to be recorded).
https://www.nxp.com/design/design-center/software/embedded-s...
https://docs.espressif.com/projects/esp-sr/en/latest/esp32s3...
https://www.syntiant.com/news/syntiant-low-power-wake-word-s...
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/224163648_Fully_int... (from 2010, Fully integrated 500uW speech detection wake-up circuit)
Once that wake word circuit detects that series of syllables, then it activates the rest of the device and starts streaming the buffer and current audio into whatever systems it has for transcription (or cloud).
In many cases, this happens locally. If you have an iPhone, put it airplane mode and say "Siri, what time is it?" And it will respond - all processing is local, no recoding on the cloud for that request. Some other requests may require additional processing. "Hey Siri, where am I?" -> "To do that, you will need to turn off airplane mode."
If you have an Amazon device, enable the "Start of request sound" ( https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=21341310011 ). With this in place, you can then hear when the wake word has been triggered.
None of these devices are constantly recording or streaming to the cloud (aside: consider the network and compute requirements if every iPhone or Android was constantly streaming sound to Apple or Google for it to be recorded).
https://www.nxp.com/design/design-center/software/embedded-s...
https://docs.espressif.com/projects/esp-sr/en/latest/esp32s3...
https://www.syntiant.com/news/syntiant-low-power-wake-word-s...
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/224163648_Fully_int... (from 2010, Fully integrated 500uW speech detection wake-up circuit)
Thanks for the detailed reply.
I guess if it a device is transcribing audio data from a buffer it’s not the same as a recording. Still I remember Apple was using some humans to review recordings:
https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2019-10-29...
I guess if it a device is transcribing audio data from a buffer it’s not the same as a recording. Still I remember Apple was using some humans to review recordings:
https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2019-10-29...
I was pointing out that walking around with a voice assistant is not walking around with an open microphone recording everything.
For many applications with the iPhone, the transcription is done locally.
If you have an iPhone, turn on airplane made and switch on dictation mode.
I will also point out that Apple is using an opt-in process rather than opt-out. The article you linked is from October 29th, 2019. iOS 13.2 was released October 28th. It is possible that the release and saying that it is opt in ( https://support.apple.com/en-us/118392 ) "Privacy settings to control whether or not to help improve Siri and Dictation by allowing Apple to store audio of your Siri and Dictation interactions" is what triggered the article (the change prompted the article rather than the article prompting the change).
https://foundation.mozilla.org/es/privacynotincluded/article...
And from the about security settings:
For many applications with the iPhone, the transcription is done locally.
If you have an iPhone, turn on airplane made and switch on dictation mode.
I need to go to the store and get a two by four
I am five foot ten inches tall
I will also point out that Apple is using an opt-in process rather than opt-out. The article you linked is from October 29th, 2019. iOS 13.2 was released October 28th. It is possible that the release and saying that it is opt in ( https://support.apple.com/en-us/118392 ) "Privacy settings to control whether or not to help improve Siri and Dictation by allowing Apple to store audio of your Siri and Dictation interactions" is what triggered the article (the change prompted the article rather than the article prompting the change).
https://foundation.mozilla.org/es/privacynotincluded/article...
And from the about security settings:
If you opt in to Improve Siri and Dictation, the audio of your interactions with Siri and Dictation may be stored on Siri servers and reviewed by Apple employees to develop and improve Siri, Dictation, and natural language processing functionality in Apple products and services. For general text Dictation performed on device (for example, composing messages and notes, but not dictating in a search box), transcripts and audio are not shared with Apple by default, but are shared if you opt in to Improve Siri and Dictation. In addition, other Siri Data, such as computer-generated transcriptions of your requests, names of your contacts, apps installed on your devices, and location, is also used to improve Siri.
Fine in theory but man are they terrible in practice. At which point it is sent to the cloud and then, as it turns out (from siri), evaulated by contracted humans.
We shouldn't have to move states because people are being rude. That's a bit drastic.
I totally understand the desire to have computers help us, but telling people to get over it is a blatant rejection of their desire to privacy.
I totally understand the desire to have computers help us, but telling people to get over it is a blatant rejection of their desire to privacy.
If you wear this you are a fucking creep.
The agencies will love that additional data source.
I can't wait for stuff like this to become more common, and then the inevitable data leaks. Instead of SSNs and emails it'll be the private conversations of millions of people, many of whom didn't agree to this.
Exactly. All of these things that ship data off to cloud services are basically data breaches waiting to happen. The fact that devices like this not only put the owner at risk, but others who didn’t consent to having their conversations recorded and shipped to a third party is even worse.
Aren't a lot of y'all in California? Because wearing a wire is generally illegal there...
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySectio...
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySectio...
What a strange law. It seems to me that it should always be legal to secretly record conversations.
38 states agree with you and allow you to record any conversation you're a part of.
12 states, including california, disagree.
12 states, including california, disagree.
This is also, at least in Canada, why most security cameras only record video and not audio. If two people have a conversation that is recorded without their knowledge, you don’t even have one-party consent. You can record video in public but not audio.
Edit: where I am we have one-party consent rules for audio recording. I can have my phone in my pocket recording without you knowing just fine. But I can’t tape a microphone to a park bench and record the conversations there that I’m not a part of.
Edit: where I am we have one-party consent rules for audio recording. I can have my phone in my pocket recording without you knowing just fine. But I can’t tape a microphone to a park bench and record the conversations there that I’m not a part of.
Also illegal in Belgium, and presumably many other European countries, without prior notification. Spying on people is not cool.
One person's spying is another person's whistleblowing.
For example, a commonly-held view online is that it should be legal to record interactions with police. By your definition, however, that would be "spying", as the police may not necessarily consent.
For example, a commonly-held view online is that it should be legal to record interactions with police. By your definition, however, that would be "spying", as the police may not necessarily consent.
Come now, it's obvious that sometimes exceptional circumstances warrant the bending or breaking of the rules.
A lot of police interactions happen in public, and additionally when police are on duty and interacting with the public they have a reduced expectation of privacy.
It's generally only recording private conversations that's illegal.
It feels like you didn't think about the differences between the two situations at all
It's generally only recording private conversations that's illegal.
It feels like you didn't think about the differences between the two situations at all
"Spying on people is not cool"
I don't particularly like this device mainly due because of the cloud related vulnerabilities - if it used all off-line models, I wouldn't be nearly as opposed to it.
On the other hand, let's not be deliberately disingenuous.
The goal of this device is to record conversations that you're part of, which one would hardly call "spying" in any conventional sense. That's why one-party recordings are legal in many states.
I don't particularly like this device mainly due because of the cloud related vulnerabilities - if it used all off-line models, I wouldn't be nearly as opposed to it.
On the other hand, let's not be deliberately disingenuous.
The goal of this device is to record conversations that you're part of, which one would hardly call "spying" in any conventional sense. That's why one-party recordings are legal in many states.
If you're part of a conversation, and want to capture part of it, is it really that hard to ask the other parties whether they're cool with it? If you don't, you're effectively spying on them, regardless of how much you sugarcoat it or whatever some states consider to be legal.
You’re not considering a critical set of edge cases.
For example, what if you’re being threatened by a coworker and wish to report it with some kind of evidence?
“Excuse me good sir, might I record your threats so that I can report you?” is probably not going to work.
For example, what if you’re being threatened by a coworker and wish to report it with some kind of evidence?
“Excuse me good sir, might I record your threats so that I can report you?” is probably not going to work.
Oh come on, this is a ridiculous discussion of silly pedantry. You're interpreting what I'm saying in bad faith. Of course there are edge cases, and that's fine, as has been mentioned elsewhere in this thread.
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I wonder if this is even legal in many places. Doesn't California require consent to be recorded? This seems like an edge case
Illinois too, it's called "two-party consent".
Only private communication
It's called "implied consent"
As long as you show people you are recording - it's legal
The necklace has a visible light when listening
As long as you show people you are recording - it's legal
The necklace has a visible light when listening
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INGSOCIALITE(1)
spacecadet(1)
The intentions seem genuine, and the ideas are good for what you would want people to use it for, but what about people like me?
Recording data on and around you especially without their consent is not something I'm okay with. I'm against Windows adding in their 'Recall' feature highly, I don't want somebody's computer taking screenshots and transcribing my encrypted chats on all of their computer usage, I sure as hell don't want to be around somebody who's too lazy to take notes or be present in the moment with their friends to solidify memories within themselves that they can just go back on and get transcripts of who and what was said as they traversed the day.
So again, what about people like me?
Sorry, but this is spyware in every sense of the definition. There's no argument against that there.
https://notfriend.org/
So again, what about people like me?
Sorry, but this is spyware in every sense of the definition. There's no argument against that there.
https://notfriend.org/
Something like this might work:
"Virtual Walls: Protecting Digital Privacy in Pervasive Environments"
https://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~kotz/research/kapadia-walls/in...
"Virtual Walls: Protecting Digital Privacy in Pervasive Environments"
https://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~kotz/research/kapadia-walls/in...
>Recording data on and around you especially without their consent is not something I'm okay with.
fulfilling that request would make nearly all 'connected' devices untenable.
I absolutely agree with you , but from this point how does that actually happen? how do we shift away from minuscule connected devices that sense everything about the world around them when they come effortlessly cheap and absolutely invaluable?
fulfilling that request would make nearly all 'connected' devices untenable.
I absolutely agree with you , but from this point how does that actually happen? how do we shift away from minuscule connected devices that sense everything about the world around them when they come effortlessly cheap and absolutely invaluable?
The privacy issues with this and the inevitable data leaks and blackmail potential is staggering.
Please consider whether you should publish something instead of just whether you can.
Please consider whether you should publish something instead of just whether you can.
I built this because I want to use it myself: many companies are advertising such technology but no one is shipping
The app can work with or without wearables so you can try the experience without buying anything
--- Update: wasn't expecting this post to get attention, so please let me know if I need any special tags like Show HN