The iPhone 5. It is taller, and has incremental improvements under the hood, and is shiny. (I'm staying away. Typing on glass is wrong.)

Of more import, the smartphone you carry is more than a communication device; it is potentially a government surveillance enabler. To whatever extent that is the case (depending on whose public pronouncements you believe), latent digital snooping was reinforced on the same day as the iPhone event. Two days after that, Google announced its intention to build a "Do Not Track" option into the Chrome browser, giving users some shielding from a different type of rampant surveillance -- the type that creepily delivers knowingly targeted ads. The two issues differ in seriousness, but are related as privacy concerns. As our mobile and desktop devices get sexier, we become increasingly naked.

Continue reading Editorial: We, the digitally naked

Editorial: We, the digitally naked originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Sep 2012 15:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.