Privacy, Mobile Phones, and Ubiquitous Data Collection 61
ChelleChelle writes "Participatory sensing technologies are greatly expanding the possible uses of mobile phones in ways that could improve our lives and our communities (for example, by helping us to understand our exposure to air pollution or our daily carbon footprint). However, with these potential gains comes great risk, particularly to our privacy. With their built-in microphones, cameras and location awareness, mobile phones could, at the extreme, become the most widespread embedded surveillance tools in history. Whether phones engaged in sensing data are tools for self and community research, coercion or surveillance depends on who collects the data, how it is handled, and what privacy protections users are given. This article gives a number of opinions about what programmers might do to make this sort of data collection work without slipping into surveillance and control."
dark knights (Score:3, Interesting)
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Conclusion FTFA (Score:3, Insightful)
Since when is it up to the application developer to determine what they're going to develop?
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Since when is a developer spoon fed every detail of the process? When in doubt, do whatcha think it right. Don't act like an automaton awaiting instructions.
Do what is right today ... (Score:3, Insightful)
... sleep under a bridge tomorrow.
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Hmm, really? Its not the doing right that gets you there, its pissing off more one more powerful than you. A little social skill and this whole thing isn't always an issue.
pissing of superiors (Score:2)
Of course you are absolutely right. But do consider the whole thread here. A boss who orders you to add spyware to the application you work on is most likely not the kind of boss who will take no for an answer.
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Yes, that is correct. I've had a friend quit after being asked to do that. He didn't wind up under a bridge, but got an other job.
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Application developers are not programmers (Score:2)
E.g.
A housing developer builds houses, but rarely actually does the bricklaying himself, he gets a bricklayer to do that.
it's exactly the same for applications; programmers are the equivalent of bricklayers.
If the Government Can, anyone can... (Score:5, Interesting)
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As covered in the Morning News Tribune, based in Tacoma WA, a Fircrest family was bedeviled by some one who had the tech, probably a kid by speculation, to listen in, turn on the phone, take pictures, etc. This was a few years back. I believe the tech worked even when the phone was off.
More recently, the government got a conviction of some NY mobsters by listening in on their cell phones during their meetings.
thats why the russian mafia is winning.... (Score:2)
they have all their meetings naked in a hot 100f sauna where mobiles die.
oh and its hard to stick one up ur ass.
anyway you can make your own opensource phone, just get a 30 dollar mobile module board,
build your own mini linux/arm controller board, and use an existing older crappy phone for a case/lcd module.
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anyway you can make your own opensource phone, just get a 30 dollar mobile module board,
build your own mini linux/arm controller board, and use an existing older crappy phone for a case/lcd module.
I'm interesting in how to do this. Can you provide any links to where to buy the mentioned module board, and perhaps point to existing homebrew devices that use these modules?
Lead (Score:3, Funny)
Time to create a company that sells lead enclosures for cell phones!
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Too late. Last time I was at the mall, some guy tried to sell me a lead sticker that "blocked radiation" from a phone.
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Does it boost your signal quality at the same time?
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Tin foil hats anyone? (Score:1)
Yes, but I have control over the source.
I can turn my phone (or the aspects of it in question) off.
At some point the tin foil hats have to come off.
Me, I could care less if someone is tracking where I am or what I am doing. What difference does it make?
If you use a phone or a computer you are susceptible to the same"invasion". I am not going to stop using my computers or my phones.
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Is your phone off, or in standby? Does the 911 GPS still work in that state?
If you remove the battery, I would say you have a reasonable chance. But that's too inconvenient for most people.
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I was talking about turning it off.
But I can turn the GPS and cellular radio totally off independently as well, just a couple clicks.
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So you think. Are they really truly off, or just the UI telling the dumb user things are 'off'.
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It is off. I know that for a fact.
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If you use a phone or a computer you are susceptible to the same"invasion". I am not going to stop using my computers or my phones.
If you ever walk outside your house/apartment, you're susceptible to the same "invasion", too. I mean, you can't shut off your presence. Not unless you plan on being a hermit in your own house for the rest of your life.
I'm with you. Caring about privacy within reason is one thing. Not trusting anyone, anywhere, for any reason, and actively seeking reasons not to trust is another. I mean, are you sure your compiler isn't putting tracking stuff in your code while you're not looking? Are you sure? How a
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> Me, I could care less if someone is tracking where I am or what I am
> doing. What difference does it make?
You've obviously never had to lay-low for a while. Ever been stalked by a psychotic ex? Or the ex-bf/gf of a recent break-up?
Some of us haven't made exactly stellar choices in life. And sometimes when people are in an extreme emotional state, it's nice to give them time to cool off while not giving them more information than what's prudent.
The potential for someone to google my cell GPS makes
The Real Solution (Score:4, Insightful)
I think the real solution to this is royalties. Every single time anyone in government or as a private interest accesses your information, you get paid a dollar (and that doubles every decade). If they profit in any way from accessing your information, you must be given half the profits. This would mean, of course, a record of every time your personal data is accessed, and that wouldn't be a bad thing either.
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What if they don't profit but put you in jail instead?
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It actually costs $$$$$ to put people in jail. And in jail, you don't have to worry about a place to sleep, go to the toilet or where your next meal will come from. They only thing you have to worry about is pissing off your fellow residents and anal sex.
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Hahahaa! Yeah, right! As if those companies would care for your request for royalities! It's simple: The biggest cell phone network providers will let a company "consult" them on the terms for their contracts, and those terms will include that they only offer you the contract, if you will resign the right to any royalties, but pay *them* royalties for selling your private data to Russia, Korea and Nigeria. (So you have to pay thrice, of course!)
So what? What will you do? You will do nothing. That's how simp
Open source mobile phone? (Score:5, Insightful)
I am sick of seeing stories on here about how De Police may or may not be able to activate the Mic on your phone and spy on you but nobody really has any idea how - trojans were mentioned, as well as people claiming this is some obscure part of the GSM standard.
Of course as soon as you transmit something using radio waves the source can be tracked, you can mess around with timing advances to let on you are further away but if you got a van with an antenna after you it won't help you much
Re:Open source mobile phone? (Score:4, Informative)
We need an Open Source mobile phone
Err... There's already one (I have one).
It doesn't work all that well unfortunately.
http://openmoko.com/ [openmoko.com]
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Have the firmware for the baseband & the OS all readily available and modifiable and use only off the shelf commodity components, no questionable 'black box' transceiver IC's
So how open is the Openmoko hardware? The best reference I could find was wikipedia's entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Openmoko#Openmoko_hardware [wikipedia.org]
Openmoko hardware aspires to the term open source hardware although in various areas the availability of cell phone components and law requirements prevent full conformance to this term.
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So how open is the Openmoko hardware? The best reference I could find was wikipedia's entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Openmoko#Openmoko_hardware [wikipedia.org]
Well, as I've already indicated, the GSM chip / firmware are not open, for legal reasons (at least). Also, the specs for the graphics chip ("Glamo") are protected by an NDA, although the NDA doesn't prevent writing open source drivers.
http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Smedia_Glamo_3362 [openmoko.org]
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Maybe someone could write a firewall for an existing phone. It would probably have to be one which has been cracked to run unsigned code (e.g. iPhone or Symbian based).
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or a Neo1973
Heh. I missed that part. Note that the Neo1973 (and its successor the Freerunner) *were* built from the ground up to be open source, to the extent possible. Unfortunately that extent can be fairly limited.
HAM Radio (Score:3, Informative)
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In the USA? I googled around for this and found this article: http://www.rietta.com/blog/2009/08/authentication-without-encryption-for.html [rietta.com]
The FCC regulations for amateur radio, part 97, rule that encryption cannot be used to obscure the meaning of communications.
Batman? (Score:2)
Sort of like the last Batman movie?
Simple solution (Score:5, Insightful)
Simple solution: don't use a mobile phone. I haven't owned one for years and to be honest I wouldn't use/carry one if you paid me - not being forever tethered to a communications network and always available to whoever might want to call (or feeling guilty for not taking calls if the phone is turned off) is a truly amazing and freeing experience.
Interesting timing... (Score:5, Informative)
I read an article about Google starting to use the location data from Google Maps to analyze traffic patterns to determine where traffic was backed up, etc.
Randomly-found article using, what else?, google: http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/google-uses-your-mobile-to-end-traffic-jams-629554 [techradar.com]
Anyway, just another example where we know the data is being collected, but somehow it feels less comfortable when the data gets used.
Won't stop me from using it if I get to a city where there might be enough cars to actually use the data.
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Actually, they will only gather that data if you allow them to.
According to TFA:
The search giant is testing a scheme where mobile phone users simply sign up to My Location on Google Maps, start the program before getting in the car, and then simply set off.
So, you need to sign in, and start the application before they can actually gather any information about traffic jams. I can also see people screwing with their data by getting into a car, being dropped off at a certain point, and then walking the rest of the way.
ooh, this sounds like that crap ending of batman (Score:1)
Back in the day of analoge cell phones (Score:2, Informative)
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Who cares when some random guy gets home and wonders whats for dinner
From "The Departed"
COLIN
Don't you have to call your mother and tell her you're not gonna be home for supper?
ON FITZY. He looks up at the CCTV camera.
COLIN (CONT'D)
The cameras are off.
(gently puts phone on the table)
Call your mother.
Fitzy hesitates.
COLIN (CONT'D)
Lookit. They're in there suiting up for a raid. I don't know where they are going, but they do. And so do you.
Call your mum.
COLIN puts a cellphone on the table. FITZY takes up the phone and punches in a number. It is answered.
FITZY
Mum, I'm not gonna make it for supper. I got held up. Yeah, talk to you later.
INT. A HOUSE WHERE DRUGS ARE BEING HANDLED. CONTINUOUS
BILLY looks up at MISTER FRENCH, who is on the phone. Other men are frozen, holding bags of Ex.
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM. CONTINUOUS.
FITZY closes the cellphone. He puts it into COLIN'S hand.
INT. A HOUSE WHERE DRUGS ARE BEING HANDLED. CONTINUOUS
MISTER FRENCH
Everybody out. Move.
much ado about nothing IMHO .. (Score:1)
Too late (Score:5, Insightful)
When everyone has a camera, you tend to end up in photos you didn't intend to be in - sometimes without even noticing.
More phones have GPSes now, and may be able to automatically geotag their photos.
There are providers that offer online photo storage plans right off the phone.
So with those in mind, all it would take is one warrant to search a mobile photo host and run face recognition software, and you have an easily compiled database of who was where and when, and with enough data, the ability to plot your daily habits and location trends, who you know, who they know, areas you and your friends tend to frequent, and by extension what your interests and motives may be, etc.
It's not really a panic about what could happen if we let this get out of hand, as much as it is an observation of what could be done cheaply with practically off the shelf software on a common PC today.