In this hyper-connected world, where fitness obsessives track their every move with dedicated wearables and companies want people to put internet-enabled cameras inside their fridges, there don’t seem to be many places for the Internet of Things to go next.
Except maybe up your ass.
Videos by VICE
The Kinsa Smart Thermometer is a small stick used to measure your body temperature orally, underarm or rectally, which then displays and stores the results on your smartphone.
“Simply plug the Kinsa Smart Thermometer into your headphone jack (either on its own or with an optional extension cord) and launch our free app to see how Kinsa will work for you,” the product’s website reads. According to the Google Play Store, the Android version of the app requests access to identity and location information, photos, media files, and the device’s microphone.
The device can be used by adults, but one of the product’s advertising videos obviously geared towards parents using it with kids. It even suggests that like-minded worriers could create groups to share the data and “see what’s going around the neighborhood or in your child’s school.” This could be one use for collecting the phone’s location information.
This is the apparent future of home living: where even your squishy insides can’t avoid the increasing presence of data collection and monitoring, and where the simple act of measuring a person’s body temperature is somehow connected to the internet, an ever-sprawling network of systems transferring a truly dizzying amount of personal information.
The Internet of Things hasn’t even entered everyone’s home yet, but it’s already trying to get deeper into your personal space; perhaps much more personal that you anticipated.