Pokémon Go developer uses its unwitting players’ data to train its latest AI
POKÉMON Go is one of the most popular mobile games in the world, and with a huge player base, it collects a lot of data.
While Niantic promises to protect any personal data such as your name, email, or social media accounts, the same cannot be said for location and AR data.
Niantic’s privacy policy has long explained to Pokémon Go users that the app collects and uses their location data.
In fact, there is no way to turn this location data sharing off and still be an active player of the game.
Pokémon Go even collects your data while you’re not using the app as long as your phone is turned on.
However, this is the first time that Niantic has been transparent about what it is using this location and AR data for.
Niantic explained in a blog post: “The LGM [Large Geospatial Model] will enable computers not only to perceive and understand physical spaces.
“But also to interact with them in new ways, forming a critical component of AR glasses and fields beyond, including robotics, content creation and autonomous systems.
“As we move from phones to wearable technology linked to the real world, spatial intelligence will become the world’s future operating system.”
This is a lot of technobabble, but what it essentially means is that Niantic is using the data to train an AI that it can then sell to third parties.
Niantic explains that it plans for the AI to be used with autonomous systems, which could be something like a self-driving car.
In particular, when players use AR to see or catch Pokémon out in the wild, the camera is recording the world around them.
This could help autonomous vehicles to see bumps in the road, or where specific paths narrow.
While Niantic doesn’t mention the use of its model for military or law enforcement, it also has implications here.
AR used to record inside people’s homes and close-ups of certain landmarks can help identify areas that are usually unavailable via other recording devices like CCTV.
Whatever the data is being used for, it has huge implications for technology moving forward.
Pokémon Sold
As technology improves, people don’t realise how popular their data is or what it can be used for.
People are being tracked more closely than ever before through their smart devices, and via voice recognition software like Siri.
Most people claim they care about their privacy, yet they unwittingly allow companies to collect their data in a variety of ways for a simpler life.
We hope that education on this use of data improves in the future so people better understand just how their information is used.
If you want to read more about Pokémon, check out how you can grab a shiny Rayquaza in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.