In a recent interview, Robert Vamosi, computer security writer and author of When Gadgets Betray Us, says that we are placing too much trust in technology instead of “lifting our heads, looking around, and thinking for ourselves.”

He describes extreme cases, such as a woman who blindly followed her car’s GPS directions to cross train tracks and was almost struck by a train, as well as mundane examples, such as people who leave their cars in unsafe areas, believing electronic security systems like keyless entry will protect against thieves.

Vamosi says that many of the conveniences that gadget-users expect, such as automatically location-tagging photos taken by GPS-enabled smartphones, are a boon for criminals.  “When we put that picture on the Internet we are also broadcasting to the world where we were at the time we took that picture,” he says.

He also cautions that as gadgets move from our pockets to being implanted in our bodies, such as with “smart” pacemakers and cardiac defibrillators, blind reliance on potentially insecure technology could be disastrous.