Pokemon Go is just a Government surveillance scheme!!!
“Pokemon GO” by Eduardo Woo, available at https://flic.kr/p/HXJkVc under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0, full terms at < https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/>
Ok so probably not. But then again…
In the recent weeks, the world has once again become obsessed with Pokemon, this time in an app for your smart phone which allows you to catch Pokemon in real time, in your own augmented-reality. Pretty cool huh? But to do that you have to agree to allowing access to your location, contacts, phone storage, and other somewhat seedy things. The creator of the game – Niantec – admitted that by downloading the game they did have access to players location, phone storage, Google account information (if you’ve joined that way), camera and contacts. However they at no point had intended to spy on peoples Google accounts, and that the problem was in the process of being fixed to limit the amount of accessible information to the bare minimum.
Naturally people don’t want their information shared around and for Google to know their location at all times, but fact of the matter is, as soon as you switch your location on your phone on, that’s exactly what’s happening. On an i-Phone, the phones location history is kept so that you can see where you’ve been, and also how long you’ve spent in each location, so this isn’t exactly a new thing to be happening.
If you ask me, people need to just calm down about the whole Pokemon Go phenomenon. Quit freaking out about being watched all the time, and just accept that yeah, if you want to play a game in a cool virtual augmented reality, you’re going to have to be watched a little with your phones location. You win some you lose some.
References:
“Pokemon GO” by Eduardo Woo, available at https://flic.kr/p/HXJkVc under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0, full terms at < https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/>
Johnson L, 2016, “17 secret i-phone tips and hacks that you didn’t know about”, Digital Spy, 06/07/2016, retrieved on 14/08/2016, http://www.digitalspy.com/tech/smartphones/feature/a782933/17-secret-iphone-tips-and-hacks-that-you-didnt-know-about/
Kulwin N, Bergen M, 2016, “Pokemon Go creators say they didn’t mean to spy on Google accounts”, RECODE, 11/07/16, retrieved on 14/08/2016, http://www.recode.net/2016/7/11/12154354/pokemon-go-niantic-google-permissions
Almost Rambling 
Hi Josie,
Great work on a very interesting topic!
There are so many different things to consider with Pokemon Go’s claim to fame and surveillance seems to be something that a lot of users are now concerned with. However, I think it’s also important that those “trainers” know that there are so many other ways your privacy may be compromised by other applications and in-built iPhone features.
I like the way that you write in a conversational manner and try to engage with your readers on a common level.
Just for feedback, you might like to edit your hyperlinks. One of them opened in a new window, but the others (including your Creative Commons referencing) didn’t. I think you’ve also missed an ‘a’ in your title and I think that you could go on to expand some of your points in a few more paragraphs.
Overall though, well done!
I look forward to reading more of your work shortly 🙂
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Great effort with your blog post. You opened with a very bold statement commenting that Pokémon go is just a government surveillance scheme but finish with commenting that people need to calm down about it, this confused me as your contention is quite blurred. The information you give in your post is interesting but would be more stimulating if you had gone into more depth such as what are the consequence of the app knowing the user’s location, why should people be concerned about this? Its great you linked some further resource in your blog, but you’re in-text referencing needs to be revised and overall it could use another proof read.
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Incredible start to the blog so interesting and more importantly grabbed my attention straight away. The statement ‘Pokemon Go is just a Government surveillance scheme!!!’ is a good way to get viewers to your blog and get the message out there of surveillance. I agree with your contention of people need to accept the fact that they are being watched and tracked. Really good use of hyperlinks however your in text referencing could be revised, as your creative commons referencing hyperlink did not open in a new window You might like to check out this peer reviewed article and incorporate some of the ideas into your future blogs.
Fuchs, C, Boersma, K, Albrechtslund, A, Sandoval, M, 2013, “The Challenges of Web 2.0 and Social Media”, in Trottier, D, Lyon, D, “Key Features of Social Media Surveillance”, Taylor and Francis, p. 91
Keep up the good work and i look forward to reading your other blogs, also happy to help with any ideas.
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Your opening line had me worried as I have just re-downloaded the app for the third time! But the moral panic was gone by the end of your piece once I realised you’re right – these days people voluntarily post a lot worse information online. I enjoyed your post, it was very informal and colloquial and felt like a conversation. I liked that you hyperlinked those articles in the text but as others have commented you may benefit from referencing them in-text as well. Maybe I’m just pedantic but the company is Niantic, but Niantec. Otherwise I solid article and I can’t wait to read more surveillance insights from you.
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Hi Josie!
Love the title, it drew me in straight away. Good effort with the blog post, just a few things. There was a few spelling and grammar issues, nothing major (iPhone not i-Phone). I liked where you were heading at the beginning however I was a little lost towards the end because you started with a strong statement and then I feel you may have changed your mind towards the end. You could potentially also go into more depth with your argument and by adding a few embedded tweets of your own or a vine can help you further with getting your message across. However then this, well done and I look forward to reading more from you 🙂
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Hi Josie,
Very topical post! Your dramatic headline drew me in immediately. In regards to your contention I take a divergent view. I sympathise that data collection and surveillance is often disproportionately blown up but, to not explicitly state the extent of the tracking from the outset comes off as deceptive. I acknowledge that producer obviously made an error initially and has worked to rectify it but it does up consumers off side. However, your post certainly got me thinking! In future weeks you could potentially extend your argument with the integration of further media and more scholarly sources. Good work 🙂
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Hi Josie,
Very interesting topic!!! The title was really got my attention. Pokemon become popular in the world (not including some countries, such as China). People may just be addicted to the game, but they maybe forget when they playing Pokemon, their information has been share to others, even to the government. Your post could remind the Pokemon’s players to consider their information on their phone. Something I know that the Pokemon need players to access their locations and their camera on their phone. Therefore, the players’ pictures on their phone are not safe (it could cause a lot of problems).
Under the picture, you should add ‘CC BY SA 2.0’ (Adam and Emma’ posts had show the correctly example of use creative common in the text). Also, you could use the in-text citation that can the readers know where the information from.
Well done!!☺ Waiting to see your next post!
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Hi Josie
Really good effort on your blog post. I really like how you create more engagement with appointing the topics that is very stimulating to be discussed nowadays. I agree with your ideas regarding the fact that we are being watched, well we could not stop it right.
However it would be so much nicer if you put some media like embedded tweets or more images. And do not forget to put the CC under the images, you can search through flickr to find some pictures with legal licenses. Hope you find it helpful. However, really enjoy your post!
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Hi Joseie, I am so glad to see this blog post. According to your blog post , I think I found more about our mobile application concerns and government surveillance. I think this post so interesting, the only advice is to add more pictures or do some visual impacts, that’s would be wonderful!
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A good read, I think. Got drawn in by the title. In this case, the exclamation points really do the trick. I like that you´ve provided hyperlinks to the articles you are discussing in your post. You should fix the second link (see where you’ve been, and also how long you’ve spent in each location), so it opens in a new window. You wouldn´t want your readers to abandon your page.
In the paragraph underneath, the first sentence is 56 words long! You can easily slim it down by adding a period after ´…phenomenon´. Keep up the good work.
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Your headline completely caught my eye straight away. I do agree with your ideas regarding the fact that we are being watched, well we could not stop it right. The information that you provided was very interesting considering Pokemon has become very popular. individuals may just be addicted to playing but they have to realise that by plating Pokemon, their information has been shared and stored to others and even to the government. the only thing i noticed about your blog was that there were a few grammatical issues and i would have like to see some embedded tweets but apart from that i really enjoyed reading!
isabella
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Hi Josie!
I like how you have emphasised how these ephemeral trends, such as Pokémon Go have come into fame in such a storm that nobody really stops to ask the important questions over whether it is entirely ethical or if there is a greater purpose behind it all! You have clearly identified the problem, and also explained that we are willing participants in such a takeover!
Just a few suggestions, with the additional 250 words you could have possibly gone into more depth on possibly how this invasion replicate or evolve in the future with app culture and so on! I personally would have found that interesting!
Cheers,
Lena.
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Josie, I think the title of your blog is very catching, I like the way you juxtapose it with the few opening words. The hyperlinks that you have used lead to relevant articles which were also interesting. You concisely covered the issues, I like that you decided that giving up some personal privacy is a good trade-off for something that you enjoyed – we are being watched anyway, right? I noticed some small spelling issues and you might want to make the post just a little longer if you want to use it to be assessed and graded. It is a great start though.
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