Overview
Conceal proposes a third stance beyond surveillance (watching from above) and sousveillance (watching from below): deveillance, opting out of being watched at all. It gives you control over when your voice can and can’t be captured.
How it works
The device emits ultrasonic tones around 25kHz, above the 20Hz–20kHz range of human hearing but inside the range a microphone diaphragm picks up. To you the room is silent; to any nearby recorder, your speech is jammed into noise.
The call
Conceal started as a portable wearable, and we prototyped it as a necklace and a clip. My research said a portable first version wasn’t feasible yet, and that privacy-critical businesses were the better first customers. So I decided on a tabletop device for the room instead, and the team pivoted to it.
Heard vs. recorded
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System
Components
Device
Result
We demoed the tabletop device to 300 testers. Conceal is now a company, Deveillance.
Companion app
Emitting at 25 kHz
Mode
Coverage
2.0 mSignal
Automation
- Coverage
- One distance instead of a volume knob. The arc fills and the rings reach further as it grows.
- Signal
- A single 25 kHz tone, or a sweep across 24 to 26 kHz that is harder to filter out.
- Consent
- Allow recording pauses the device for five minutes behind a countdown, then it resumes on its own. You decide when your voice can be captured.
- Automation
- Starts with calendar meetings or at places you save, so privacy does not depend on remembering.