During a recent podcast episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, host Joe Rogan took on Google researcher and futurist Ray Kurzweil in a discussion about privacy on devices. In a tense exchange, Rogan confronted Kurzweil about the lack of privacy on devices and the industry’s unwillingness to address this issue for their users.
Rogan began by pressing Kurzweil on the capabilities of intelligence agencies when it comes to accessing personal information on devices. Kurzweil argued that the industry can create “virtually unbreakable” privacy for users, but Rogan pushed back, pointing out that anyone with advanced technology can easily hack into someone’s phone and access personal data.
Rogan raised the issue of Pegasus, an advanced spyware used by the FBI that can easily gather information from phones. “All they need is your phone number, and they can look at every text message you send. Every email you send. They can look at your camera, they can turn on your microphone,” Rogan warned.
Kurzweil’s response was to reiterate his point about the industry’s ability to preserve total privacy, but Rogan continued to press him on the issue. He pointed to cases where devices like Amazon’s Alexa have been used to gather evidence in criminal cases, and argued that these devices are constantly recording and storing personal data without users’ knowledge.
As the discussion continued, Kurzweil could only offer the explanation that “perfect privacy” is possible, even if it’s not a feature on current devices. Rogan countered by pointing out that the data and information collected by these devices is used to fuel algorithms and target ads to users. “That thing is just a net scooping up information,” he said.
The video of their exchange was shared on social media, with a brief summary calling it an “awkward” conversation. And it’s clear that Rogan has a point – despite Kurzweil’s claims, the industry continues to make use of personal data for their own gain, while intelligence agencies have the ability to access this information at any time.
There is some good news, as Amazon recently announced they will no longer share Ring footage with police. But overall, there is still plenty of reason to be skeptical of the tech industry and their handling of personal data. As Rogan argued, they are not our friends.
???? Joe Rogan & Google AI Researcher Ray Kurzweil Get Into an Awkward Exchange Over Protecting Data from Intelligence Agencies
KURZWEIL: "We have the ability to keep total privacy in a device…We know how to build perfect privacy."
ROGAN: "How do we do it?"
KURZWEIL: Long… pic.twitter.com/GJaFjICt48
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) March 13, 2024
Rogan’s interrogation of Kurzweil revealed what many already know – that personal privacy is virtually non-existent on devices and that Big Tech is more concerned with profit than protecting their users. With this exchange, Rogan has shed light on an important issue and emphasized the need for more stringent privacy measures.