Es braucht keine künstliche Gefühlsanalyse, um mögliche Bedenken wahrzunehmen. Emotional Decoding hört sich ein bisschen Identifying possible concerns does not require automated emotional analysis. Emotional decoding sounds a bit like surveillance. Nowadays, many of us don’t even want to have our photos taken at family parties – so how are we supposed to agree to be filmed while shopping? No thanks! In theory, the software can currently be deployed – and is deployed – without our permission. As one opinion (clearly from operators) goes, as long as no “personal data are collected and stored”, so people remain anonymous, customers do not need to be informed and give their permission.
In contrast, German data protection officer Johannes Caspar says that a connection to an individual is possible if the person recorded is identifiable. This means that simple observation represents intrusion, even if the data are not stored. And we must not forget that this idea goes even further: all the way into our private lives. It’s not just a question of retailing and advertising. When using emotional decoding, it is also a matter of whether our friends should know that we have just told them a little white lie. This would be possible with ooVoo, a video telephony program similar to Skype. The technology assesses callers’ emotions in real time (using Affective, as it happens). The end of the poker face – and maybe of a friendship.