New Apple Watches Have Ears

Dr. Drang: It seems like your watch will be listening continuously, keeping the last 15 seconds in a buffer, ready to be transcribed when you ask. That’s fine for you, because you know it’s happening, but what about those around you? Did they agree to this? I doubt wait staff will be upset with their spiel being transcribed, but the idea behind Live Rewind seems to be that everyone and everything near your watch is being recorded for 15 seconds. Surely, some people wouldn’t consent to that if they were asked. Significantly, though, they’re not being asked. I’m sure Apple will argue that there’s no privacy issue because the recordings aren’t being saved. But if there’s a transcription, isn’t that a type of saving? And then there’s the question of legality. A great variety of law, both in the United States and across the world, concerns the recording of electronic and in-person conversations. I’m sure Apple has considered this, but I have to think some jurisdictions will frown on Live…