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View Full Version : Snooping: It's not a crime, it's a feature




Anti Federalist
04-19-2011, 10:04 PM
Snooping: It's not a crime, it's a feature

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/print/9215853/Snooping_It_s_not_a_crime_it_s_a_feature?taxonomyN ame=Privacy&taxonomyId=84

Cellphone users say they want more privacy, and app makers are listening.

No, they're not listening to user requests. They're literally listening to the sounds in your office, kitchen, living room and bedroom.

A new class of smartphone app has emerged that uses the microphone built into your phone as a covert listening device -- a "bug," in common parlance.

But according to app makers, it's not a bug. It's a feature!

The apps use ambient sounds to figure out what you're paying attention to. It's the next best thing to reading your mind.

DamianTV
04-20-2011, 12:38 AM
I have to be sure to take my cell with me the next time I go take a shit...

Anti Federalist
04-20-2011, 12:41 AM
I have to be sure to take my cell with me the next time I go take a shit...

And get spammed by ads for shitpaper and toilet bowl cleansers and Gas-X.

acptulsa
04-20-2011, 06:48 AM
My 1994 Nokia looks more beautiful to me every single day.

Krugerrand
04-20-2011, 06:55 AM
Obviously, the idea that app companies are eavesdropping on private moments creeps everybody out. But all these apps try to get around user revulsion by recording not actual sounds, but sound patterns, which are then uploaded to a server as data and compared with the patterns of other sounds.

Oh, yes. That's much better. :rolleyes:

Working Poor
04-20-2011, 07:02 AM
All the more reason I am glad I don't have one

Anti Federalist
04-20-2011, 11:14 AM
My 1994 Nokia looks more beautiful to me every single day.

So does my old i700

VBRonPaulFan
04-20-2011, 01:12 PM
being a programmer, i can understand why some of the makers of these apps would want to do that, to enable some nifty feature to offer an end user. however, these apps should be super upfront with what they're doing, and there is tons of potential for abuse here.

this problem won't be fixed until some of these phone OS's get some kind of security and role system built in where you can explicitly give consent to certain apps to do certain things, block certain apps from doing certain things, and get notified whenever some app tries to do something that could be used nefariously. very similar to the way windows prompts you when an application tries to run or get permission to a folder that it generally shouldn't have access to, etc. i don't have a smartphone with internet access, but if i did - i'd definitely want to know whenever some app tries to shoot a packet out to a server somewhere at a time i'm not expecting it to.

Krugerrand
04-20-2011, 01:16 PM
So does my old i700

No superfluous data being transmitted from this one:
http://www.611connect.com/files/oldcellphone%5B1%5D.png

UtahApocalypse
04-20-2011, 01:27 PM
No superfluous data being transmitted from this one:
http://www.611connect.com/files/oldcellphone%5B1%5D.png

Except back then I could easedrop on your phone call anytime I was near a cell tower using a $99 radio shack scanner. not that I would since its illegal... ;)

tangent4ronpaul
04-20-2011, 01:46 PM
http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/7185-michigan-state-police-reportedly-extracting-personal-info-from-cellphones

Michigan State Police Reportedly Extracting Personal Info From Cellphones

The Michigan chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is questioning the Michigan State Police's use of cellphone "extraction" devices.
Specifically, the group claims that law enforcement is clandestinely using portable devices to secretly extract personal information from cell phones during routine stops. The devices (pictured, left) are sold by a company called Cellebrite and facilitate the downloading of text messages, photos, video, and even GPS data from mobile phones. The handheld machines use various codes to work with different models and can be programmed to even bypass security passwords in order to access the desired personal information stored on the cell phone.

http://www.cellebrite.com/forensic-products/ufed-physical-pro.html