The odd-looking animé creatures that captured imaginations in 90s has returned to torture those of us who prefer to live in the realm of tangible reality, writed Lara de Matos.
|||FORGET drones and covert surveillance tactics á la those outlined in Edward Snowden’s infamous Wikileaks documents. There’s a new stealth shadow programme sweeping the globe and it goes by the name Pokémon.
Yup, the very same odd-looking animé creatures that captured imaginations in the mid-’90s have returned to reclaim their position at the top of the gamers’ totem pole – and to torture those of us who prefer to live in the realm of tangible reality, as opposed to the virtual variation.
While the app isn’t officially available in SA as yet, those active on social media (i.e. a third of the entire world population at last count) will have seen the memes, GIFS, posts and other Pokémon paraphernalia slithering its way into our daily existence.
But in our ever-increasingly narcissistic society, where people are already obsessed with the equally consuming enterprises Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Snapchat, Instagram, (insert latest social trend here), why the worry over a seemingly harmless game?
Particularly in light of the fact that, as many commentators have pointed out since it launched earlier this month, Pokémon Go has encouraged people to engage with each other, explore parts of their cities they never knew existed – and even, exercise!
Well, the answer lies in the fact that it’s not quite so harmless.
Disregarding, for a moment, just how a game that has players glued to their screens (so much so, there have already been cases of car crashes and folks literally falling into gaping construction holes) as they frantically make their way from place to place in search of digital critters is supposedly encouraging social engagement, Pokémon poses a very real security concern.
Downloading the app gives it permission to access a user’s entire Google account, including their profile, passwords, location data, e-mail and browsing history. Anyone who has watched the critically acclaimed film, Disconnect (or simply possesses some degree of common sense), will understand only too well what a threat such information presents in terms of potential identity theft and cybercrime. Or so called real crime, for that matter:
Armed robbers in America’s state of Missouri reportedly used Go’s geolocation feature to target victims, by anticipating their movements or luring them into secluded areas.
What makes the matter all the more perplexing is that, in an age where the notion of the Protection of Information Bill, clandestine government tapping of phonelines or monitoring of personal internet usage stirs outrage, we’re blithely willing to give up our privacy to play a game!
Ultimately, however, privacy permissions or the sheer ludicrousness of the Pokémon Go concept are not what’s at the heart of the matter.
The fundamental issue at hand rests in the question of how we became so engrossed in pretence and make-believe, that a pointless pastime of virtual reality garners more immediate attention than pressing social issues. Just when did we lose the ability to do what man has been doing for thousands of years – talk, interact, explore – without the “camouflage” of a digital interface?
Perhaps we need another app aimed at helping us salvage our sense of humanity to resolve that conundrum…
lara.dematos@inl.co.za
@Lara_de_Matos