jon@moskowitz.nyc

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The suitably ominous Touchtone logo.

The suitably ominous Touchtone logo.

Are You Watching?

March 20, 2015 by Jon Moskowitz in Disruptablog, Random Observations

This being America and all, we figured it was only a matter of time before someone took the NSA scandal and figured out a way to make money from it. But we’re pleased that the creators of new iOS app TouchTone seem to have their priorities straight: while we’re sure they’d like to turn a profit, they seem most concerned with teaching a lesson.

TouchTone perfectly illustrates the dangers of domestic surveillance by making the user complicit in it: to do well at the game, you have to spy on your (fictional) neighbors. The directions have a disturbing Orwellian tone—“The innocent have nothing to hide”—and the graphics are pure “24”-style tech. This is an example of a game in which the premise and design actually serve an idea beyond simply garnering buzz—a rare thing in the tech world these days.

March 20, 2015 /Jon Moskowitz
Apple, apps, distruptablog, dml, gaming, iOS, Patriot Act, spying, Surveillance, Tech
Disruptablog, Random Observations
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