iSpy: Beware the iPhone 6S’ Live Photo feature

Steven Petrow | Special for USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Live photos with iPhone 6s and 6s+ Ed Baig of USA TODAY shows off live photos, one of the new features of the iPhone 6s and 6s+.

Maybe I worry too much, but the Ashley Madison data breach and now Apple’s introduction of its Live Photos, an “I spy” gimmick on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, have me thinking we should all worry more about our digital privacy. Much more.

What am I angsting about? The iPhone 6S (and 6S Plus) Live Photo feature has garnered a ton of positive press coverage in the few days since the new phone was released. MacRumors called it the “best new feature” of the new phone and The Verge wrote it’s one of “the coolest things you can do” with the new phones.

According to Apple’s website, “Live Photos bring your memories to life in a powerfully vivid way.… But together with that photo are the moments just before and after it was taken, captured with movement and sound.”

I say: Users beware!

Even if you’re one of the 13 million people who bought a new iPhone 6S or 6S Plus over the weekend, I’ll bet you don’t know that the new phones can capture about a second and a half of video and audio before and after each snap. And by default, this feature is set to “on.” Sure, static photos can get boring, but what concerns me is that audio will also be captured—unknowingly captured.

“Let me take a quick photo,” a friend calls out to you at a wedding as you and your pals chat away, perhaps dissing the bride’s gown or worse, her choice of a husband. If you think this is unlikely, you only need think back to when handheld video cameras first came on the scene. Remember the classic camcorder wedding blooper in which all kinds of nasty talk was recorded for posterity, with the blabbing subjects completely unaware.

And that was before videos could be uploaded to the cloud and beyond.

Or imagine a group of teens at school. “Selfie!” shouts someone with an iPhone 6S and not only do you get a great group shot but a clear recording of someone’s private medical diagnosis or painful crush. Upload for the world to both see – and hear.

Right now, no one expects the taking of a photo to include a recording of their words, and because the new iPhones look almost identical to their predecessors, people will definitely be in the dark about this new feature.

Apple did not comment.

The takeaway:

If you’re snapping photos with a new iPhone 6S or 6 Plus, warn friends that a picture is not only worth a thousand words but it can now also capture that many (okay, I exaggerate but you get the point).

As always, don’t upload or tag photos without the approval of those in the picture. Also make sure that you—and they—actually listen to the audio track beforehand.

Turn off Live Photo entirely so that you can choose when, and when not, to use the new spy feature (which I think Apple would be wise to default to “off” in its next update).

Don’t forget that it’s on you to make sure others’ privacy is not violated in your ever-fancier pursuit of photorealism—and sharing. New technology provides an even stronger argument for this than before.

Agree or disagree with my advice? Let me know in the comments section below.

Submit your question to Steven at stevenpetrow@earthlink.net . You can also follow Steven on Twitter: @StevenPetrow . Or like him on Facebook at facebook.com/stevenpetrow .