A big part of our job as marketers in the digital era is to stay on top of technological advancements so we can distinguish fads from fundamental changes in the marketplace. With the staggering growth of all things social it’s no surprise that more and more companies are shifting their focus (and ad dollars) towards this medium. This, in turn, is obviously fueling more funding and innovation, which continues to push the boundaries of what social means.

A few weeks ago a new application was revealed at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, that allows users point a smart phone at a stranger and immediately learn more about them via their social networks.

Dubbed ‘Augmented Identity’ this prototype software combines computer vision, cloud computing, facial recognition, social networking, and augmented reality to make… the ultimate stalking tool?

The technology in an absolute sense is remarkable and fascinating, but when we start envisioning what this can mean down the road there are definitely some important questions to be asked and possible reasons for concern—specifically in the realm of privacy. (Which, coincidentally, Brad spoke about just last week).

Yes, the application does currently require that you choose to take a picture of your face and decide which social network profiles you want people to have access to. But if it becomes more mainstream and falls victim to the same ever-changing privacy settings that currently befall Facebook, is it possible that the creepy guy staring at you on the subway can start following your updates on Twitter without you even knowing it?

Is this just the next natural progression in the way we connect with others through our social networks or could it make our identities a little too accessible? Really interested to hear what you think!