A Rechargeable Battery That Spies on You

SAUSALITO, Calif. -- I love the USBCell rechargeable battery from Moixa Energy because: 1. It eliminates the need for an often redundant piece of hardware; and 2. It will outrage privacy advocates and Libertarians.

The USBCell is essentially a rechargeable nickel metal hydride battery with a USB plug attached on top. A cover with a positive nodes slides over the plug so it can be used in flashlights, cameras and other devices.

Attaching the USB interface reduces the amount of power that can be stored in the battery, admitted CEO Simon Daniel during a hallway chat at the GoingGreen conference taking place this week. If a supercharged AA nickel metal hydride can store 2500 milliamp hours, the USBCell might do 1300 or 1500.

Integrating the USB port, however, means that you can charge it by slapping it into the USB port of your computer. Thus, you don’t need to carry a charger on business trips as long as you have your notebook. Charging through a PC is also generally more efficient than charging with one of those store-bought chargers because the power supplies and other components in a PC are more efficient, he said.

Moixa’s AA batteries are already on sale in select stores. The company is also working on a lithium-ion battery with a USB interface for phones. (See photo.). The company will mostly make and design batteries and let others sell them under their brand names.

But where’s the privacy outrage? It comes in the software that Moixa has begun to couple with its batteries. The batteries will pop up ads and/or power saving tips whenever you plug into charge them. Let’s say you got a pair of the batteries with a game controller. The batteries will, if programmed in this way, begin to pop up ads and discount coupons for game devices. The ads are fairly unobtrusive and didn’t really bug me, but unanticipated advertising makes some people go bonkers. Expect puerile outrage in the blogosphere.

But that’s not all. Moixa is also developing software that can monitor your power consumption and how you use your products. Let’s say the software was put in a home charger or other energy managing device. By examining how you often you charge them and how much charge is needed, the software will be able to determine, conceivably, how much water you are boiling each time, he said. Thus, your batteries can begin to observe your behavior without you noticing. A program like this invariably would require customers to opt-in. It could also help reduce power consumption – one of the big challenges now is trying to teach people how they actually use electricity. In fact, there are a slew of companies and utility programs aimed at doing just this--controlling electricity flow while adjusting it to your lifestyle.

But there’s enough of a whiff of Big Brother in it to drive people like Declan McCullagh, a noted government watchdog, up the wall.

[Ed. note: Thank you, Simon.]