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So there
you are using your laptop computer at some public venue.
You may be traveling on a jet, sitting at a local coffee
shop hotspot, at the library doing research, on a bus,
wherever. As you're doing whatever it is that you do at
your computer, you suddenly get the feeling that your
personal space is somehow being invaded. You look up and
you spot him. And although he probably quickly turned
his gaze away, you realize that for some time now, the
guy sitting next to you has been reading what's on your
screen. I've had it happen to me and it's a feeling
that's hard to describe. I rate it somewhere between a
mild annoyance and a personal violation, specifically
depending on what I had been viewing at that particular
moment in time.
Let's
face it. People are nosey. They'll read your newspaper
over your shoulder if given the chance, listen in to
your side of a cell phone conversation and pry into
whatever else you leave exposed. Reading my newspaper
isn't so bad as that's information available to
everyone. But reading what's being displayed on my
computer is where I have to draw the privacy intrusion
line. At any given moment, my screen could be showing
sensitive data about my business, personal finances,
passwords, email, and dozens of other private items of
which I have no desire to share with some nearby
stranger. Fortunately for me and others that need to use
their computers in a public place,
3M
has come up with a novel solution called the Privacy
Filter.
The
Privacy Filter is a sheet of transparent film that can
be easily attached over any desktop or notebook
computer's screen. There's even a version for smart
phones. It's a removable, thin, rigid-yet-flexible
polymer that also protects the computer's screen from
scratches and marks. The idea is a fairly simple one in
that the film acts as a kind of mini-blind like the kind
you see being used over ordinary windows. But instead of
physical slats, the Privacy Filter uses a patented
microlouver technology that yields the same effect via
extremely tiny ridges that only allow light to pass
through to someone who is observing from a position that
is directly in front of the screen. Someone trying to
look from any other angle such as from the right or left
side of the screen will only see blackness. In fact, it
looks like the computer isn't even turned on unless you
are looking at it straight on.
Typically
when you use your computer, you're the one sitting
directly in front of the screen so everything looks
normal. In fact, the Privacy Filter takes it a bit
further and enhances the image that improves screen
color contrast and helps reduce headaches and eyestrain
that comes from too much computer usage. The Privacy
Filter is a clever, inexpensive solution to an annoying
problem.
For those
of you who want others to know you don't appreciate them
looking at your screen, there's the 3M GOLD Privacy
Filter that gives your screen a golden glow rather than
the black appearance of the standard version. So
onlookers will know your computer is on even though they
won't be able to see anything.
3M
says that GOLD also improves visual acuity even more so
than the standard filter.
Check out
the 3M Web site on how you measure your screen so you
can order the proper size Privacy Filter for your
particular computer. Depending on the size, privacy
filters range from
$40 to $100
.
As Wi-Fi
venues continue to pop up all over the country, you'll
find yourself going online in public more frequently.
This is an extra, easy to apply measure you can take to
insure your privacy remains intact.
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