The phenomenon of Pokémon Go reflects how physical reality is getting integrated into the digital reality, which could result in rewriting of safety laws and increasing privacy concerns. Pokémon Go, which from July 5, when it was launched has had 75 million downloads till date, is an Augmented Reality (AR) game in which players must physically wander in real-world locations in the quest of Pokémon characters. AR is different from Virtual Reality as the former blends real world with fictional experiences, something which has become mainstream with Pokemon Go. Is AR psychologically safe?

Pokémon Go is getting blamed for everything — accidents, children going missing, data privacy issues, and criminals luring unsuspecting individuals to rob them. Already, the Mumbai Police have sent out a cautionary notice to not make it a cause of accidents while playing it on city roads. Singapore’s minister for communications and information, believes that there are serious concerns about the game and wants to monitor it closely. It is just a matter of time before marketers jump into the bandwagon, luring users to buy movie tickets or restaurant coupons.

All this raises serious privacy concerns, akin to the questions that have come up in the recent past with respect to the products of Facebook and Google, among others. Adam Reeve, who previously worked at Goldman Sachs and Tumblr wrote in a blog post that Niantic, the company behind Pokémon Go game, takes full access of their account, which includes Google products. Further, it has the ability to read your emails, send emails, and even view your search and navigation histories. Since then Niantic has issued a statement saying says it isn’t accessing users’ Google accounts and is working with Google to restrict permission.

Are we to believe these assurances, at a time when digital apps have increasingly come to map our every detail?

Venkatesh Ganesh, Senior Assistant Editor

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