Your IT department may one day decide whether or not you can view your laptop screen. Remote viewing permissions features could become a reality for businesses, for better or for worse.
Working in the office is already complicated, but it looks like it’s only going to get more complicated thanks to a new tool that protects screens from all kinds of unwanted looks.
Rain Technology’s Laptop Switchable Privacy is targeted at Tier 1 manufacturers such as Apple, Dell, HP, Huawei and Lenovo and is intended to protect screens from hackers and prying eyes, especially in vulnerable places such as coffee shops, airplanes, trains, subways and taxis.
Of course, LSP also works in the office and at home. Rain Technology focuses on IT departments of companies, who can effectively determine who can see a laptop screen and who cannot with one push of a button (or a few buttons).
Beyond software security
The company says its tool comes with a sharing mode and a privacy mode, allowing you to set the angle and degree of privacy depending on the customer’s specific needs.
“Manufacturers using this technology provide the highest level of device data security in the market, build strong brand relationships, and foster trust and loyalty,” said Robert Ramsey, CEO of Rain Technology.
“This is a winning proposition for both businesses and consumers, prioritizing security and privacy and also benefiting laptop, tablet and monitor manufacturers by offering their customers differentiated, best-in-class security.”
Much of the focus of corporate IT departments is on software security—and rightly so, especially as phishing emails and other types of hacks become more common. But there’s another side to the story: the physical device.
In recent years, we’ve seen Google and other companies share physical hardware keys to help with online logins and ensure that people are who they say they are. And in a sense, Laptop Switchable Privacy is an extension of that mindset.
According to the company, the only thing a potential hacker or snoop can see when a laptop screen is “protected” is the metallic, black or flashy Display Screen Branding, which Rain Technology describes as an etched logo design.
As for the technology that powers LSP, Rain says it holds a patent for “creating a thin, embedded proprietary layer within the liquid crystal module of a display,” meaning it goes beyond simply adding a software layer to laptops. At its peak, there can be as little as 0.3% visibility of the screen from a 45° viewing angle.
Rain says LSP is compatible with standard LCD displays, and will soon support OLED, Micro-LED, and Nano-LED displays.
