These Are The Gadgets Forcing Us To Rethink Privacy

Tech consumers are becoming increasingly privacy-conscious, and the catalyst of late seems to be Edward Snowden's big reveal of PRISM, the NSA's domestic spying program.

But look at all the information about ourselves we voluntarily punt out into the universe – every single thought is tweeted, every photo gets posted to Facebook, every fireable offense is described in gripping detail on that blog you hope your boss never finds.

But the utility of these things, whether they help you stay productive or deliver a quick blast of serotonin to your brain, far outweigh the privacy concerns. If they didn't, no one would use them.

So this is the conundrum the tech innovators face today. We know that many people want to share their thoughts all the time, but they also want to be sure they can do so safely. How does the marketplace respond? There's not really a good answer yet.

Let's take a look at the latest generation of privacy-eschewing technology, whether it's available today or will be shortly.

Google Glass raises all kinds of privacy concerns.

People wearing Google Glass take photograph you and record video of you without you knowing about it.

Sure, there's a light that comes on when the wearer is doing this, but The Verge's Josh Topolsky points out that most people probably won't really know what it means.

Memoto raises very similar concerns.

The Memoto is a lifelogging device that you wear on your lapel. Its camera shoots a picture every 30 seconds. It aims to help make sure that you remember more of your every day life, but how do you explain this to the stranger on the elevator as you take two pictures of him in the minute it takes you to get to the ground floor?

Google Now relies upon you surrendering your privacy for it to work.

Google Now (think of it as Google's response to Apple's Siri) is a pretty impressive piece of software. Because it remembers your emails and Google searches, it can begin to anticipate your needs.

If you repeatedly search for Mets scores, it will automatically update you on the results of the latest game. Book a flight? Google Now will tell you when it's time to leave for the airport, even accounting for the traffic in your drive time.