Former Vice President Al Gore told an audience at the South by Southwest Interactive festival, that apps and technology is making a living from voyeurs.
Gore said that we now live in a stalker economy. "The stalker economy, I hope, is causing people to reach a gag point," he told AllThingsD reporter Walt Mossberg, according to CNET. Although Gore mentioned Snapchat, an app that sends images that self-destruct in about 10 seconds and supposedly can't be downloaded (although there are ways around that), he also was discussing cookies, RFID tags and other apps.
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All these things that track a person's movement and life, are discussed as one of the six drivers of global change he writes about in his book, "The Future." Although he discussed the emergence of global mind and the increasing bond of human thought and intelligent devices, his remarks about gagging should also signify his ambivalence about the trend.
If one looks at the recent crop of apps, there definitely is a trend of keeping track of other people from the safety of one's home. Facebook increasingly wants and sells more user information to third parties and using an alias on comment section is becoming rare with Google+ and Facebook plug-ins. Employers and college admissions officers now vet candidates through social media. Is this the future we envisioned or simply the one we deserve?
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