The Smartphone That Spies, and Other Surprises 132
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."
any chance (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
For sure, but then only "terrorists" would want one.
Re: (Score:3)
For sure, but then only "terrorists" would want one.
A good excuse for the government to put a secret tracking device in all "untrackable" phones.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Yes. It's called a brick.
Honestly, a phone is designed for social interaction, you can't have 100% privacy while audibly conversing with someone, they are bound to at least know the sound of your voice...
You want a phone that doesn't have a GPS built in to track you, a camera to be logged, or a microphone to listen in on, go to a shady pawn shop, find a flip phone from 2001, call your telco about setting up the new phone, it might be as simple as moving the sim card over and having them change the device ID
Re: (Score:2)
Eventually, TSA will require all phones to scan through clothes and broadcast an updated image every 4 minutes to Hot or Not.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes. It's called a brick.
Honestly, a phone is designed for social interaction, you can't have 100% privacy while audibly conversing with someone, they are bound to at least know the sound of your voice...
You want a phone that doesn't have a GPS built in to track you, a camera to be logged, or a microphone to listen in on, go to a shady pawn shop, find a flip phone from 2001, call your telco about setting up the new phone, it might be as simple as moving the sim card over and having them change the device ID they have listed.
Seriously, strong privacy options are out there but most people want to be able to snap a pic and upload to facebook right away - so of course you don't get phones designed with privacy in mind.
Catch up! Manufacturers and retailers have realised that there's a market for simple phones that are just phones. I bought one a few weeks ago for UK£0.99.
Re: (Score:2)
someone will put out a phone with built in privacy?
Yes, it's called two tin cans and a piece of string.
Re: (Score:2)
Sorry. One problem: Google Maps. You need to add: duck while you're doing it.
Re: (Score:2)
If you tie another string with a can at the other end to the string between the first two cans, you can overhear or join the conversation.
Re: (Score:2)
Seeing as how the lines need to be taut to work, you would need to pull on your end, letting the other two parties know there was an eavesdropper.
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe, if I used a small lightweight paper cup and hung it on the line and stuck some really high tech mic into it... Maybe the pull would be small enough for the others not to suspect anything.
Re: (Score:2)
Or you could use a line tied to mine at the center and pulled in both directions with the same force. Damn it, I just undid my own example.
Re: (Score:2)
I don't know... I've heard that these things get really finicky when you add enough cups. With some angles and number of cups you'll be able to hear just some parts of the conversations. I have a feeling directions perpendicular to the original line would be problematic, but maybe if both pulled in opposite directions from each others, but not at 90 degrees from the original line, and maybe the eavesdroppers would need to combine their notes...
And, obviously it would be a good thing if both the original spe
Re: (Score:2)
Anti-Smartphone Phone Launched For Technophobes [slashdot.org]
"A Dutch company has launched what it calls 'the world's simplest phone [johnsphones.com],' targeting users who are sick of new-generation models. Only capable of making and receiving calls, John's Phone is dubbed the world's simplest mobile phone, specifically designed for anti-smartphones users. It does not provide any hi-tech features. No apps. No Internet. No camera. No text messaging. All you have to do -- in fact, all you can do -- is call, talk and hang up."
Re: (Score:2)
It does not provide any hi-tech features. No apps. No Internet. No camera. No text messaging. All you have to do -- in fact, all you can do -- is call, talk and hang up.
You don't have to be crazy to want a phone like that but you do have to be crazy to pay 79.95 EUR ($105) for it.
Re: (Score:2)
You don't have to be crazy to want a phone like that but you do have to be crazy to pay 79.95 EUR ($105) for it.
This price seems pretty reasonable to me - By comparison, an unlocked, carrier-agnostic entry-level iPhone is over $500. Even a baseline LG GB250G is $150.
Re: (Score:2)
And yet I got a contractless 'pay-as-you-go' flip phone for $10 five years ago
If it was a TracFone or one of their ilk then while it was contractless, it was still locked - So that's not a fair comparison. TracFones are locked because they're subsidized based on the *expected* future revenue from the purchase of airtime.
See more -
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080714/0053011666.shtml [techdirt.com]
luddite?! moi?! (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Any chance someone will put out a phone with built in privacy
At least the Iphone gives you the option to disable location services for some or all apps requesting it. It's not much but still it's more than I expected.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The N900 is the closest modern phone to what you want, but even the cell network tracks your location, so no phone is private until you even disable the cell radio.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Google Voice has the option of recording a call. You can route your GV number to your cell phone, and presto...
Re: (Score:2)
The N900 can do it:
http://maemo.org/packages/view/recaller/ [maemo.org]
Re: (Score:1)
Depending on the state where you live, and generally the laws are about secretly recording conversations. All you have to do is tell the person you're recording them before they say anything.
Re: (Score:1)
Indeed, if recording calls would be forbidden even if the other one agrees, then answering machines would be disallowed, too.
Re: (Score:2)
Probably not.
The people who talk to you like privacy, too, so there are pretty serious laws about recording conversations.
Those laws vary from state to state. Some states, for instance, only require the consent of one of the parties, not both.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/oftel/consumer/advice/faqs/prvfaq3.htm [ofcom.org.uk]
Can I record telephone conversations on my home phone?
Yes. The relevant law, RIPA, does not prohibit individuals from recording their own communications provided that the recording is for their own use. Recording or monitoring are only prohibited where some of the
same old story (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re: (Score:2)
Off/Airplane mode.
Re: (Score:2)
Nonsense.
Name one such phone. [gauntlet]
Even if the mic were active, with no radios running there would be no risk of your position being revealed or your conversation being over heard.
Re: (Score:2)
There have been several stories regarding smartphones that drained the battery even while switched "off". It was discovered that the phone was simply switching off the interface, and going into a low power mode, but was still capable of data transfer (via the radio) in the background. The last report I recall had something to do with people receiving large bills for data use while roaming -even tho they had not used the phone.
Perhaps someone who is not as lazy as I am will google the references...
Re: (Score:2)
Several stories do not a citation make.
Re: (Score:2)
What's true is that phones have varying definitions of "off" and on some you may have to pull the battery to disable the cell radio.
Re: (Score:2)
If what you say is true, those phones would never be allowed on airplanes.
So again I ask for a citation. Please be specific as to brand and model.
Re: (Score:2)
And Chevy used to.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Nope. Doesn't say a thing about working when the phone is off.
Furthermore, back in 2003, (the date this Ardito bugging went down) we would be talking about a Razr most likely. When Razrs (like all phones) are off they have no radio's running.
(That's the law).
So Ardito never turned his phone off. Its a lot easier when the subject of surveillance dutifully charges your bug's battery every night.
http://www.nysun.com/new-york/buster-ardito-hunts-for-bugs/34885/ [nysun.com]
Re: (Score:2)
Really? In a Razr?
The only case on record happened in 2003!!!
An there has never been a case reported for recording when the phone was OFF. It never happened. No point in polishing a turd.
Shouldn't it have a toggle - a hardware one even, (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Well you can have a fairly quick and accessible toggle via SBSettings if you jailbreak an iPhone. Users of some other phones aren't so lucky.
I agree that there needs to be a quick and easy way to toggle it, but at the same time you are going to need a few of those toggles, not just location but things like wifi, 3g, etc. But wait, that's going to get confusing/annoying to be constantly flipping toggles on the side of your phone (or even in software). That will actually detract from the device useability,
Re: (Score:2)
You claim that everyone has reasons, times or places they don't want to be located.
I claim that is not true, as an example, people who read slashdot do not have illicit sex.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Alright I spent a minute looking it up... http://google.about.com/od/mapsanddirections/p/Latitude_WhatIs.htm [about.com]
Location Sharing:
Latitude allows users to share their physical location with other users on their contact list. Likewise, they can see the location of their contacts.
Privacy:
Your location is not broadcast to the general public. In order to share your location, both you and your contact must agree to the service and explicitly turn Latitude on. You can disable Latitude at any point and either s
Re: (Score:2)
GPS is not that much of a battery drain. Its a very low power receiver. It only is switched on when something asks for your location.
Turning GPS off often drops the phone into a mode where it has to fire up radios (hint: very high battery drain) to find where you are by triangulation with the towers. Usually this is when you are using the radio anyway, but it lengthens the transmissions with additional traffic.
If the APP says it uses your location, and you install it anyway, you pay the price.
So you are
Re:same old story (Score:5, Insightful)
I agree- There is a lot of room for improvement. For example, in the Android realm, when you download a new app, it tells you which permissions it wants - if you click the OK button, you've granted all those permissions. This is backward. It ought to be that you tell an app which of the requested permissions you'll allow. Second, there is no firewall on Android devices, unless you decide to root your tablet or phone. This should be standard. Finally, it's missing some other key tools that make for a more secure environment - for one, more control over things like Javascript.
There is a toggle (Score:2)
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.
Re: (Score:2)
You can turn off location services in settings, either generally or by app.
Yes, I know. I can also turn off sound the same way. Yet I use the mute button all the time. Does that tell you something about the incredible fun it is to hop through several screens to toggle a binary setting?
Not binary (Score:2)
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.
Re: (Score:2)
If you really, really care you would just jailbreak the phone and then add the top level switch there.
Because everyone who cares about cars absolutely must build his own? You've had a bit too much of the Linux Kool-aid. I can care about things that I can't or don't want to do myself.
To claim it is binary is incorrect, because 99.9999999(% of people would never want to use it.
That's also true for the mute button, or at least that's the impression I get every time I ride the train.
Re: (Score:2)
You have a microphone linked to a radio-emitter with a behavior you can not verify and everybody wears one. If you told that to a citizen of a democracy in 1980, it would tell you it is a potential Orwellian world. I mean people who call that a "surprise" are clearly lacking any sort of insight.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
'but my first thought was "do I want that?"'
Since your ID is 822, it's not for you, it's for your granddaughters.
Re: (Score:2)
When the iPhone was launched, it didn't have 3rd party apps. I don't know what this showcase app you're talking about is/was.
Loopt, Facebook, etc let you check in so your friends can see where you are using the device's GPS, however the only way an app can access the GPS is through the API (otherwise your app won't get accepted to the app store). When the API is called, it asks the user if it wants to let the app use the GPS or not.
This is an important benefit of the app store + approval model that Apple ha
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
But it is.
No, it isn't. What you name is by far not the same thing. I don't want to go into settings, bla, bla. I use the mute hardware switch all the time, even though I could also go into settings, bla - because I don't want to change "settings". I want the damn thing to be silent until I tell it otherwise.
An additional popup is a hack, not a solution. It gets in the way of me using stuff I want to use.
Re: (Score:2)
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.
wow, seriously?
You telling me that they don't have options in the settings for togging gps, and location finding by wifi and stuff?
Because, on my G1, they have those "toggles" as you say it. Software toggles, but that is sort of the point.
the phone are mean to be sleek. putting a bunch of switch & sliders on it for stuff seems counter productive, costly, and of course, more crap to break.
Seems to me your just bitching about people too lazy to actually go thru their phone settings and seeing what you
Re: (Score:2)
Install programs that don't ask for that, and you won't be tracked? Seems simple enough for me.
Exactly.
If deployed to an overseas location, simply remove any such tracking apps from your phone.
The military could force app developers to reveal any data collected and shared, and those apps have to be removed before deployment, or have controls that turn it off.
Of course it would make more sense if Google/Apple started controlling the markets a little tighter and make app developers justify collecting and revealing location data.
Currently it just indicates it can access the data, not what it does with t
Getting tired of this... (Score:5, Insightful)
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
Re: (Score:1)
> Am I the only one who thinks that when I buy a piece of hardware it should be mine to control,
No, but there aren't very many who agree with you. I am one who does agree with you, but then, I haven't bought one of the current smart phones for the very reason that it does not become mine to control after purchase.
But don't for a minute think that we have much company. I'm guessing less than 1% of the populace cares.
Re: (Score:3)
The day we as users found connectivity convenient to "locate" things on the web... corporations and governments realized the same thing, where s/locate things/locate YOU/. We allowed ourselves to be put in a game where we all want to play, and the price is that we must allow 2-ways tracking --otherwise our products never see the light of day.
That the tracking leans heavily against us, even the paying customers is what the public is just discovering with Facebook (paid apps), governments versus Wikileaks and
Re:Getting tired of this... (Score:4, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Just get a phone that's easily rooted.
Re: (Score:2)
Being able to have your provider remotely access and/or wipe your phone is a feature that most people actually want. If you lose your phone and it can't be remotely wiped, what do you do about your private data? Grin and bear it becasue you smartly locked your phone down so that if it isn't in your hands, you are powerless? That sucks too. So
Re: (Score:1)
I have an idea ... (Score:5, Funny)
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.
Re: (Score:3)
This is not about any army issue equipment. That's all made in the USA and the soldiers are trained in its use. It's about the soldiers' own personal phones.
Re:I have an idea ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Which doesn't at all change the point the parent is making... you don't have many options to verify that that button actually does what it claims to do, whereas it is a pretty well known fact among those who ever digged into the technology for a little bit, that a cellphone can be located to within a couple hundred meters, smartphone or not, location services or not.
If the military wants to make sure soldiers aren't trackable during deployment, forbidding cellphones alltogether is the only option.
Re: (Score:3)
only if you are using civilian towers. The military can, and has, put up their own 'towers' There not really towers since they can be redeployed easily.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
taking phone on deployment? (Score:1)
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?"
Re: (Score:2)
Your definition of deployment is not the one presumed here.
It doesn't mean when on a combat mission in a war zone.
It merely means when stationed somewhere other than the US where your phone is running on networks not owned/controlled by friendly companies, and where there are elements in the general population what would love to put a bullet in your ear.
Even wandering around in supposedly friendly countries (with a certain level of enemy sympathizers) with your phone reporting your position to facebook or s
grok? really? (Score:2, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
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.
+1.
Word choice is critical in making short messages easy to gro.., er, understand.
Re: (Score:2)
Word choice is critical in making short messages easy to gro.., er, understand.
Net-jargon that has failed to be approved for dictionaries will confuse readers of automatic translations --they were never perfect to begin with, but are increasingly ubiquitous.* [digitaltrends.com]
People don't think they'll reach readers whose native language isn't theirs... that'll change: see how quick we link to Sweedish translations of Assange's newspaper stories, for example. This is important enough that a certain mainstream browser goes "It looks like you were sent to a Chinese website... want me to translate it to E
Re: (Score:2)
Using it makes you look fucking ancient. "Grok" was in fashion a LONG time ago. Time to let it go.
Re:grok? really? (Score:4, Insightful)
Using it makes you look fucking ancient
I'm not the submitter, but I am fucking ancient! Now GOML!
IMO anybody who cringes at "grok" has no right to call himself a nerd. It's one of OUR words; normal people have no clue what "grok" is.
Grok" was in fashion a LONG time ago
Anybody who gives a shit about fashion has no right to call himself a nerd, either. And saying "it was in fashion a long time ago", well, "understand" was "in fashion" a lot longer (and "grok" means more than just "understand").
Re: (Score:1)
So it makes you look as if you had sex with a mummy? :-)
Re: (Score:1)
Location detection (Score:2)
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.
Re: (Score:1)
..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...
I don't see what being a geek or non-geek has to do with it. I'd consider myself a geek and I think it's fun to have all those location updates when I'm out and about (especially if I can find something whitty to say about the places I go).
The difference, though, is as a geek, I at least understand what I'm sharing.
Ignorant masses. (Score:1)
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 i
Re: (Score:2)
What Ignorant Masses? Maybe "Paranoid Coward" or "Captain Imagination" is a better name for you.
I've been admin of various BES boxes for many years, including my own personal BES at home. I've seen ways to remotely shut down/lock/erase blackberries but I've never discovered a way to remotely turn on a phone that's already off in someone's pocket. Interesting. I wonder why the battery doesn't die on these turned-off phones in everyone's pocket since of course they must still be awake ("on") enough to rec
uh... (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I was not aware the term had been out of use so long it would surprise people. I mean I know I have seen it in active use within the last year or two. I would have used it if the situation seemed appropriate without a second thought.
Re: (Score:2)
Warms the heart, doesn't it? Glad to see there are still a few real nerds here.
Smartphones have microphones? (Score:1)
"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?
Re: (Score:2)
or ANY phone?
Re: (Score:2)
Been there, done that...thought I hung up the phone and left a short audio clip of me talking like a sailor (which, coincidentally, I was at the time). Later she asks, "Do you always talk like that?"
How to disable the location technology (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
The only way to switch your phone off is to remove the battery? Yeah, technically there are a few circuits still powered even if the phone is off (otherwise it would be impossible to switch it on again, given that phones don't have a hardware off switch (at least I don't know any which has). However as long as it doesn't use the communication circuits, it cannot be located.
Of course, you don't even need to switch your phone off for this. You just have to put it into airplane mode.
Grokked?? (Score:1)
One print page. (Score:2)
http://www.infoworld.com/print/146578 [infoworld.com] ... :)
Pssst... Want to spy on your neighbours? (Score:2)
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 fingerti
CellPhone? Privacy? (Score:2)