Worst Tech of 2019 Features Failed Gadgets and Privacy Nightmares
Gizmodo highlights the most miserable tech products of 2019, including surveillance controversies and spectacular service failures. These gadgets ruin user trust through data leaks, police partnerships, and absurd pricing.
The worst tech of 2019 goes beyond simple malfunctions by actively harming consumers through severe privacy violations and spectacular corporate implosions. Gadgets now have to work significantly harder to earn a spot on the worst-of list, requiring massive failures like bankrupting companies, exposing sensitive user data, or featuring absurd price tags that make premium Apple products look affordable.
Ring stands out as a major offender because it transforms a seemingly helpful security tool into an invasive private surveillance network. The Amazon-owned company partners directly with police departments to facilitate easy confiscation of home footage, while its neighborhood watch app enables profiling and its systems remain vulnerable to hackers.
Moviepass provides another catastrophic example as it experiences a brutal and public implosion throughout the year. The once-popular service blocks users from screenings, attempts to prevent password changes, and ultimately leaks the credit card data of 58,000 users before completely shutting down in September as a classic cautionary tale of deals that are too good to be true.