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The Smartphone That Spies, and Other Surprises
GMGruman writes "As smartphones become ubiquitous accessories, unexpected consequences can result. In this blog post, InfoWorld's Galen Gruman looks at some of the unintended consequences of mobile technology's ubiquity, in which very useful technology can also raise issues. For example, the US Army has put out a training video to tell troops how to disable the location detection on iPhones and Androids so they can't be tracked when on deployment. That's just one example of the behavior and awareness that most people haven't yet grokked. Others involve cameras, microphones, and USB drives."
someone will put out a phone with built in privacy?
It really is the same old story again.
When the first iPhone was launched, one of the showcase apps was something where you could see where all your friends are. The first iPhone didn't have GPS, so it was WiFi and GSM triangulation and not very accurate, but my first thought was "do I want that?".
Shouldn't it have a toggle - a hardware one even, just like the mute one - where I can decide whether I want my location shared or not? It should be quick and easy to toggle between those states. I would be off most of the time, other people would be on most of the time, but everyone has reasons, times or places they don't want to be located.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
Am I the only one who thinks that when I buy a piece of hardware it should be mine to control, and that the company that built it should not be allowed to control it via software? For example, I want full and explicit control over whether programs can read my location -- like, a physical switch or something. Or the stories about how the FBI can remotely activate your phone's mic and listen to your conversations. That's kind of crap.
Then this article comes along and... they want to give my boss control over my phone? Sorry, but that sucks too.
-- S77IM
Student: Is it true that the foundation of the universe is paradox?
Master: Well, yes and no.
says a General:
Let's give every soldier a smartphone.
Oh, and, to insure 100% privacy and OPSEC, let's have our Chinese suppliers build a "do not track" button into the device, which we'll tell the troops to activate when going out on a mission.
I'm not a lawyer, but I play one on the Internet. Blog
Hang on, I thought you did not take identifiable stuff with you when on deployment?
Name and rank is all that is given? (according to tv anyway!)
"Oh sorry Mr Torturer, I got a call from my girlfriend, can we stop the beatings whilst I take this?"
liqbase
As much as I love Heinlein, using the term grok just doesn't work. It doesn't make you look cool. It doesn't make you look well read. It just doesn't work.
what an excellent idea!
C'mon, this isn't exactly a secret - a lot of non-geek users know about it, and many seem to see it as a plus. Ever hear of the app "Friend Tracker", for instance?
While I personally agree this is a bad thing, a lot of non-geeks don't appear to agree. Heck, I've even got geek friends who obviously don't care about being tracked - at least it seems that way, based on the plethora of "Joe X is now at Slim's Sub Shoppe" messages I see from them on Facebook.
#DeleteChrome
I find several things appalling with regards to these sorts of things.
Where to start? I find it to be sickening that blackberry phones have been -known- bug devices. They can be remotely powered on, without alerting the user in any way (no lights, sound, etc) and various agencies can listen in on any private conversation the person is having, while the phone is presumably off in their pocket.
I find it really sickening that this has been known for years. *years* and so so so few people have any idea.
I find it really really sickening that most people would consider this to be some wild eyed tin foil hat conspiracy theory and never look into it, but in particular because, generally speaking, people that dismiss people as being foolish 'conspiracy theorists' are well reasoned rational mentally healthy people with a healthy amount of skepticism.... but these same people are somehow so foolish on the other end of the spectrum in that they never stop to rationally think things like this through--
Is the ability to bug the vast majority of a population a positive thing? Yeah. For alot of reasons. It could be used for good (although it, in and of itself, may be a bad thing from the standpoint of civil liberties / privacy etc).
Do we have the ability to do it? Yes.
When you add those two together it doesn't really have to make you a 'conspiracy theorist', it is entirely rational to infer and conjecture on this subject when we have a great amount of history to look back on and see what extent various shadowy government agencies have gone to to achieve this sort of thing with primitive means in the past. (I am referring to the fact that the CIA used to plant bugs in cats and train said cats to approach and dwell amongst people that the CIA wanted to listen to in public areas like parks etc. Noone suspects an animal of being wired.)
But mostly I find it abhorrent that, although the NSA / CIA blackberry phone tapping has been known for years- very few people know it and noone who took the pledge to uphold the constitution and the principles contained therein that is in a position of responsibility to the people of the united states is doing anything about it. There should be absolute public outrage over this, but instead, people are just happy it syncs with their computer.
When things like that can happen, in daylight, when agencies supposed to uphold the law of the land instead circumvent it blatantly and not face penalties from the people nor the government, we have failed as a society and as a nation.
Anyone that doesn't realize we are in a free fall right now is going to have a really rude awakening very soon, before they are promptly put back to sleep permanently.
...did he just say grokked?
Reminds me of a trivial paragraph of The Turing Option (by Harry Harrington and Marvin Minsky) where a business had deployed company-issued smartphones. The microphones were always on, and if the speech recognition system determined that the employee was spilling the beans to the federal investigators, it set off the plastic explosive. In the story this stunt ended up trashing half the floor of an office building as half-a-dozen phones went off roughly simultaneously in one room.
Am I the only one who thinks that when I buy a piece of hardware it should be mine to control, and that the company that built it should not be allowed to control it via software?
Correct, now that we've addressed YOUR rights, here's the rights of those who's premises you enter. YOU can't come onto said premises with YOUR hardware, end of story. Ain't FREEDOM grand?
You can turn off location services in settings, either generally or by app.
Also when you are using a new application, you are asked two times when the application requests position, if you are OK with giving your location. It's not like applications can get your location without you knowing pretty well they are doing so.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
maybe you're ready there for a Jitterbug, pops, with you quaint ideas about privacy and such...
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
"Built-in microphone and cameras also can have unintended consequences... personal embarrassment (forgetting to end a call, then be heard talking like a sailor by a client)."
How, exactly, is this new to smartphones?
Well shit the telcos are logging every cell your phone passes through and that is enough to figure out what you are doing and who you are with given a few months of data so switching off the GPS makes it a little harder to place you. Mind you an app that shoots soldiers seems pretty cool and that would require the GPS to be swtiched on and I suppose an opt-in.
You mean, by removing the battery? Unless the phone is OFF, it is possible to at least trace which cell tower it is closest to.
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
Who the hell uses THAT word?? Still living in the Sci-Fi fantasy world?
http://www.infoworld.com/print/146578 ... :)
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
Or maybe on friends or colleagues instead?
"There's an app for it."
At least if you've got an Apple iPhone:
"PatriotApp
By Citizen Concepts
Description
PatriotAppTM deputizes your iPhone or iPad! It is the world’s first app that allows citizens to assist government agencies in creating safer, cleaner, and more efficient communities. The easy to use graphical interface allows you to report pertinent information to government agencies and share with others via social networking and blogs, all at your fingertips.
This app was founded on the belief that citizens can provide the most sophisticated and broad network of eyes and ears necessary to prevent terrorism, crime, environmental negligence, or other malicious behavior.
Simply download, report (including optional pictures and GPS) and submit information to relevant government agencies, employers, or publish incident data to social network tools."
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/patriotapp/id390563133?mt=8
(PatriotAppTM is recommended by Apple as a replacement for the "no longer available" wikileaks app)
Enjoy!
(sarcasm off) :-(
OK, obviously turning off Latitude, making sure there are no apps spying on you, etc... are important. Still, even if you do get an old TracPhone from the 90s or some other totally non-smart device the only way to be sure it can't be used against you is to remove the battery. Your position can be narrowed down surprisingly good just by checking the signal strength at a few towers.
To claim it is binary is incorrect, because 99.9999999(% of people would never want to use it. I want to leave location services on all the time so I can use maps for a second and then do something else, without having to sit and remember a switch...
It's really the toggle for various apps, where I would keep it off for most (but not) all apps. That lends itself way more to a setting screen.
If you really, really care you would just jailbreak the phone and then add the top level switch there.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley