The other day I remembered out loud that I forgot to pick up toothbrushes when I was at Walmart. Next thing you know, Amazon was feeding me toothbrush ads on my home computer. It is a little unnerving to discover that your phone is spying on you — monitoring you and communicating that information to other devices; but it absolutely is, all the time, and in ways that you can’t even imagine. It not only knows what you look and sound like, it also knows how you think, your habits, how you act and how you react.
Every year we become a little more dependent on our digital devices to keep us connected and make things ultra-convenient. We know that we are walking around with a powerful camera and microphone, but we figure “Who cares? I have nothing to hide.” That may be true, but you do have something to protect — your privacy.
Regardless of your guilt-free conscience, your data is valuable. Your phone collects it to create an incredibly accurate profile of your daily thoughts and activities; not just to enhance your user experience, but also to allow others to understand, predict, and even manipulate you. The data may also be employed to create more lifelike AI.
How your phone is spying on you
Smart phones have many built-in tools that serve us, often in frivolous ways, while serving others in potentially nefarious ways. Your phone is spying on you with all of them.
1. Optical sensor
Most smartphones now have several cameras, including a front-facing optical sensor. On the surface, this serves to let you video yourself, get good selfies, and enjoy FaceTime with your family.
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Thanks to patent number US20150242679A1, however, this sensor also collects biometric data. It is a high-tech tool that tracks minute changes in your facial muscles and eyes (known as microexpressions) to build a profile of how you react emotionally to different situations.
It is active even when your camera is not “on,” observing your reactions as you scroll through social media, shop, read, watch videos, etc. Of course, it knows what you are looking at, so it can easily make connections and determine what you like, what scares you, what makes you mad…
If you would rather not be scrutinized by your own device, the solution to this one is easy: cover the front-facing camera when it’s not in use. You can buy simple sliding covers for next to nothing, or even a piece of electrical tape will do the trick.
2. Infrared sensor
Another feature of the front-facing camera is the ability to sense infrared light. This enables your phone to detect telling temperature changes in your skin to gauge your emotional state while interacting with various interfaces.
By covering your front-facing camera when it’s not in use, you can reduce your exposure to the IR sensor.
3. Rear camera
You might assume the rear-facing camera is less personal, but think again. This instrument is busy building context. It sees your environment, where you go, who is with you, the condition of your workplace, and of course your home.
It captures the conspicuous as well as things that you might not even notice — like reflections in the window, your taste in decor, miscellaneous things lying about — all to build a more solid profile of who you are, your character, and your vulnerabilities.
Fortunately, you can buy phone cases that include a sliding cover for the rear-facing camera. Do this so that the only pictures your camera takes are your own.
4. Microphone
Without microphones, our devices would hardly be phones, but the mic does more than just enable us to talk to other people. We also use it to communicate with vocal assistants like Siri (whose “eavesdropping” was the subject of a recent class-action lawsuit which Apple resolved in a $95 million settlement).
As long as your microphone is on, it is listening; and while it may not always be recording, it is constantly sampling for sounds. It takes in data to analyze what’s going on around you — useful information for others who want to interact with you, or exploit you.
To limit your vulnerability, be selective about who has access to your microphone. The process is similar for both iPhone and Android: Go to Settings → Privacy → Microphone → disable microphone access for the apps you want to restrict.
5. Ultrasonic tracking
It may sound sci-fi, but this software is widely used by stores, websites, TV ads, and other devices to send secret messages to your phone. Our phones pick up inaudible, high-frequency sounds emitted through audio beacons. These sounds can wake up apps, sync IDs across devices, trigger location checkins, and activate the microphone on your device.
Ultrasonic tracking is useful for feeding you influential information at the right time and in the right place. As you walk by a store, for instance, you might receive notification of a sale on something you’re likely to like. Due to lack of industry standards, ultrasonic tracking also raises many privacy concerns.
Signal-blocking devices, like Faraday bags, are capable of blocking all wireless signals with their metal mesh construction. Privacy-focused apps can be also installed to detect and block ultrasonic signals.
6. Motion sensors
Maybe you’ve never thought about it, but your phone has built-in motion sensors, including a gyroscope, accelerometer, and magnetometer. This old military technology is legitimately used to keep the words and images on your screen properly oriented as you rotate your device, enable fitness tracking, and establish your real-time, exact location for navigation purposes.
It can also determine your mode of transportation, collect audio data due to its proximity to your speaker, and quickly create a trackable, digital fingerprint.
Be selective in downloading apps that want to use your motion sensors.
7. Behavioral telemetry
Telemetry is the automated collection and transmission of data from remote sources to receiving equipment for monitoring.
It first originated with the need for tracking spacecraft, and now serves as a useful tool for business analytics. Behavioral telemetry, in particular, involves the collection and analysis of behavioral data to understand human patterns and create personal profiles for various purposes.
This data is taken at “digital touchpoints,” when you use your phone to engage with websites, mobile apps, social media, ads, and other devices. Every click, scroll, or other interaction at these points of contact leaves a digital footprint through which you can be tracked and targeted.
Fortunately, you can clear this history by resetting your advertising ID:
- iPhone: Settings → Privacy & Security → Apple Advertising → turn off Personalized Ads.
- Android: Settings → Google → Ads → Reset advertising ID (Paths vary by OS version and vendor).
8. Baseband processor
Besides the application processor (the computer that runs your operating system and all your apps) your phone has a baseband processor (BP). This computer talks directly to your cellular network. It handles voice calls, mobile data, SMS and video transmission.
The BP is active whenever you have cellular service, regardless of whether the phone is “on” or “off.” It is continuously processing cellular data from your service provider as well as other sources, creating vulnerabilities. Signals from a rogue cell tower, for instance, could potentially engage your phone in unwanted activities.
Using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) can help obscure your digital footprint through encryption, but it does not make you invisible.
How to reduce your vulnerability – recap
- Cover your cameras when not in use.
- Turn off unnecessary apps that use the microphone, or restrict access for those apps.
- Read Terms of Service Agreements and be selective about what you agree to. In particular, look for permissions to use the camera, microphone, and motion sensors, and consider whether that app has a legitimate reason to use them.
- Beware of apps that collect information. Chinese-owned companies such as Alibaba, Temu, and TikTok are notorious for collecting large amounts of sensitive data.
- Choose safer search engines that don’t collect your data: DuckDuckGo, for instance.
- Choose safer social media that does not use addictive algorithms: Gan Jing World, for instance.
- Always weigh the pros and cons, and consider opting for privacy over convenience more often.
READ ALSO:
- Flip Phones on the Rise as People Reclaim Their Lives
- The Unhealthy Trend of Online Everything, and How to Recover Human Connection
- Ditch Digital Addiction and Get Your Life Back on Track – 10 Tips
The fact is, our phones were built to understand us, while being inherently difficult for us to understand. They do offer a lot, but it comes at a cost. To minimize that cost, just stay aware and proceed with caution.
