Location scans from the globally popular augmented reality game have helped train AI to recognise and interpret physical spaces
  • can@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    4 hours

    A 2021 update to the game introduced Pokéstops, which gave players in-game rewards for scanning real locations using their devices. It required users to opt in and upload the recording.

    Weren’t those a feature at launch?

    • SalmiakDragon@feddit.nuEnglish
      3 hours

      Yeah, Pokèstops were a thing from the start - they carried over from Ingress. What they introduced later was the possibility to “scan” Pokestops by basically filming at the physical location.

      • xthexder@l.sw0.comEnglish
        3 hours

        I guess that kinda solves the GPS spoofing that ruined it for me. Going for a long walk to a pokestop with nobody around, only for someone to hack and remotely take over the stop while I’m sitting there…

        I think the data collection is a little too intrusive for me to even attempt playing it again though.

  • CubitOom@infosec.pubEnglish
    9 hours

    Niantic Spatial – a spin-off company from Niantic – announced its partnership with Vantor, a company that specialises in spatial detection software for drones, including those used by some militaries, in December.

    …

    Vantor announced in February a deal with the US Army of up to US$217m for training software.

    If we don’t read and understand EULAs, Terms of Service, and Privacy Policies, we might help the goverment kill people.

    it’s somehow legal to make a 20 page contract for a digital service or game that states it can be updated at anytime somewhere in it and because you are using it you agree to the terms and opt-in to any updated terms.

    There is no government watchdog to protect consumers from this and if there were it only takes one rogue unconstitutional action for it to be dismantled and probably never get challenged in the legal system. The closest we have are advocacy groups like the EFF and they depend on people reading, using critical thinking, and giving a fuck.

    When the devs collaborate with the government and military or spread propaganda, games are political, all aspect of life is. I think it always was. playing a game can now mean children get bombed. I think the sooner we come to these realizations the better.

    Data can be retained and used retroactively in anyway the corporations that owns the data seem fit. That apparently means also selling that data to military contractors or using it to train models used for the military.

    Did anyone guess that a pokemon game could be used to kill? I wonder how much blood money nintendo/pokemon company made off this?

    This is not enshittification, but weaponization, and we all need to pay attention because this will not be the last time it happens.

    • astronaut_sloth@mander.xyzEnglish
      7 hours

      EULAs are part of the reason I almost exclusively use FOSS or just spin my own software (if time permitting).

      The first time I encountered one was as a small child (like 5 or 6) when I was trying to install some game. The EULA came up, and I started reading it. Of course, I only understood a fraction of the legalese, but seeing some clauses that seemed to a child supremely unfair, caused me to hit “Do Not Agree.” Who would agree to such non-sense without having a full understanding or seeing crazy stipulations? The window closed, and I couldn’t understand why, so I asked my parents. They said that although you should read and understand any agreement, EULAs were different because if you don’t agree, then you can’t use the software.

      It’s crazy to me that even as a kid, I could see how one-sided EULAs were. These companies aren’t even hiding their malicious intent, and we as a society have just decided to go along with it. I’m part of the problem, too (much as I try not to be). There have certainly been times that I hit accept even knowing that the EULA was taking advantage of me in some way, but I needed to use the software.

      Anyway, there’s not much of a point of writing all this. Companies’ EULAs screw us over, and there is little we can really do about it, especially if the software is necessary in some way.

  • Samsy@lemmy.mlEnglish
    9 hours

    Pikachu use thunderbolt against Andrewtatus, it’s super effective.