Oliver Stone says Pokémon Go privacy invasion is akin to 'totalitarianism'

Film director Oliver Stone has branded Pokémon Go a “new level” of privacy invasion akin to “totalitarianism”.

The Oscar-winning director of Platoon reportedly voiced fears over the game as he promoted his new movie about US whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Stone, 69, said companies were carrying out “surveillance capitalism” by monitoring people’s behaviour.

According to Time magazine, he told the Comic Con International audience in San Diego: “It’s not funny. What’s happening is a new level of invasion.

“The profits are enormous here for places like Google. They’ve invested a huge amount of money in data-mining — what you are buying, what you like.” He added: “It’s what they call totalitarianism.”

Pokémon Go has faced criticism over claims it could access a player’s entire Google account. The app’s makers, Niantic, reassured users that it was not collecting any exceptional data.