So the Pokemon Go app has been launched on both Apple and Android.. A new breed of ARG (Alternative Reality Game), and one that potentially has the marketing might to become a Pervasive Immersive Game.
But it’s not officially made it to these shores yet.. What can we expect when it does?
Well a clue can be had in the behaviour of those that have downloaded the app from some of the various alternative app store repositories..
The challenge here, at least on Android, is that is is very easy to insert nefarious things into the .apk file so that you are installing not only Pokemon Go, but also potentially other things that might really be after the information you store on your phone.
Indeed The Register recently posted about the fact that Proofpoint recently found that some Pokemon Go .apk files are infected with Droid.Jack
Added to the fact that Niantic the games coders) have been somewhat lax with the permissions on the Apple version of the game, as has been discovered by Adam Reeve and we have some very real potential for some proper security concerns around the game.
Also this brings up the social issues as well, but I’ll leave that to tomorrow’s post.
The reason I am concerned is that as the lad is back from university, he has thoughtfully provided the lass with a copy of Pokemon Go so that she can get a headstart over her classmates.. But what else might have been provided as well?
