This lightbulb secretly records conversations and posts them to Twitter
We've seen the future of desk lamps, and we're a little terrified
Two artists have decided that you’re not paranoid enough about your privacy, so they’ve created an eavesdropping lightbulb which posts everything it hears to Twitter. Eep.
The Coversnitch as its affectionately called, is powered by a Raspberry Pi which is hidden in a flowerpot housing, along with a bulb.
Recorded conversations are sent to Amazon’s Mechanical Turk service, where real people are paid small sums to manually transcribe the sneakily recorded dialogue.
Secretly recorded conversations
"I’m not pestering you, hun, I’m just asking why you didn’t get the job!"
"So you are posting stuff you don’t want me to see. What are you posting about?"
"Yes, and I know that they will get over you failing chemistry, it’s not the end of the world, bro!"
"It’s twitter. It’s just twitter. Settle down. Screw it, I’ll unfollow her if you really want."
"Are you sure you want to be talking about this? I really don’t know if this is the place."
"For the tenth time, it’s because my boss doesn’t like me, I’ve told you this already!"
"I just don’t see the big different between Macs and PCs. I would rather go the cheaper route."
Project creators Brian House and Kyle McDonald have stated that they want the installation to alarm people and draw their attention to the surveillance-heavy culture we’re all living in. And we reckon they’ve done a pretty good job at achieving just that.
They’ve gone as far as installing bulbs in public spaces across New York City, and you can check out covertly obtained conversations on the Coversnitch Twitter feed.
Now if you’ll excuse us, we’ve got a Faraday cage, a portable EMP generator and a deluxe tinfoil hat to purchase.
READ MORE: These smashed lightbulbs are frozen in time, forever
[Coversnitch, The Creators Project, via Engadget]
Esat Dedezade
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