In an emblematic scene of the 2002 science-fiction film’s minority report, the race agent John Anderton, played by Tom Cruise, has trouble browsing a shopping center because he is targeted by a multitude of personalized Lexus, Guinness and American Express ads, whenever hidden detectors identify his eyes.
It was clearly a warning of a dystopian future not so desirable.
However, 23 years later, this future is at least partially here in the online world and threatens to spread to other areas of daily life which are increasingly “connected”, such as the interior of cars. And the new test fields, according to the safety researcher, Jane Manchun Wong, could very well be automated vehicles, such as Waymo Robotaxis.
On X, Wong revealed An unprecedented version of Waymo’s confidentiality policy which suggests that the company based in California is preparing to use the data from its Robotaxie, including interior cameras, to form generative AI models and to offer targeted announcements.
“Waymo can share data to improve and analyze its features and to adapt the products, services, advertisements and offers to your interests,” says the unprecedented declaration of confidentiality of Waymo. “You can deactivate yourself to share your information with third parties, unless it is necessary for the operation of the service.”
Asked about the comments on the update of the unprecedented application, Waymo said The penis it contained “a reserved space text which does not precisely reflect the objective of functionality”.
Waymo AI models “are not designed to use this data to identify individuals, and it is not planned to use this data for targeted announcements,” said spokeswoman Julia Ilina.
Waymo Robotaxy, which are operation In the streets of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Austin, contain cameras on board that watch the runners. But Ilina says that these are mainly used to form AI models for safety, find lost items, check that the rules by car are followed and improve the service.
The new feature is still under development and offers runners the opportunity to withdraw from data collection, says Ilina.
But as we all get used to targeting advertisements according to everything that is somehow connected to the web, it seems that a formerly distant vision of the future is fast.