and there is no way to opt out, Thank You very Much!
"Eckhart wrote an exhaustive blog post about his startling findings: CarrierIQ collected lots data, including keystrokes, and there's no way for the user to opt out "without advanced knowledge."
See the allegations at http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2011/11/your-smartphone-spying-you/45575/
Take note there is no mention of Apple - apparently iphones don't have this wonderful feature.
Stephen
"Eckhart wrote an exhaustive blog post about his startling findings: CarrierIQ collected lots data, including keystrokes, and there's no way for the user to opt out "without advanced knowledge."
See the allegations at http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2011/11/your-smartphone-spying-you/45575/
Take note there is no mention of Apple - apparently iphones don't have this wonderful feature.
Stephen
lam
Well-known
Anyone who thinks their phone isn't tracked in some way shape or form (information gathering, usage gathering, location gathering) shouldn't use one. Even i'm not that paranoid.
iPhone 4 had CarrierIQ, but you were able to disable it in the "Send anonymous data" menu, and i'm certain CarrierIQ still exists in all phones in some way or form as a means to collect data for carriers to improve their service; regardless of claims.
It was funny when they first discovered CarrierIQ last year, on my Android (GS2) at the time I just force quitted the crap out of it.
iPhone 4 had CarrierIQ, but you were able to disable it in the "Send anonymous data" menu, and i'm certain CarrierIQ still exists in all phones in some way or form as a means to collect data for carriers to improve their service; regardless of claims.
It was funny when they first discovered CarrierIQ last year, on my Android (GS2) at the time I just force quitted the crap out of it.
oftheherd
Veteran
Iphones are rather dangerous for personal privacy. They are also very suseptable to being turned in to bots in a phone botnet. There are other things on a phone that are used to collect data. GPS is by default collected in photos you take.
There are people who troll facebook looking for vacation photos that are fresh. If you tell all your 10,000 friends that you are really loving it in Cancum, they will then look for photos of your house or family that keep showing the same location. It is is close, they may decide to do you a favor and check the security of your home.
I brought that up some 2 or 3 years ago and was roundly pooh-poohed. About a year after that, someone else "discovered" and posted.
But it is always good to be reminded that the internet isn't your friend like you think. Thanks to the Head Bartender for the reminder.
There are people who troll facebook looking for vacation photos that are fresh. If you tell all your 10,000 friends that you are really loving it in Cancum, they will then look for photos of your house or family that keep showing the same location. It is is close, they may decide to do you a favor and check the security of your home.
I brought that up some 2 or 3 years ago and was roundly pooh-poohed. About a year after that, someone else "discovered" and posted.
But it is always good to be reminded that the internet isn't your friend like you think. Thanks to the Head Bartender for the reminder.
Sparrow
Veteran
... they laughed about the foil hat at first, eh?
pakeha
Well-known
so much to worry about - so little time - every time you text or talk just sign of with the term` white house`..they will soon get sick of you
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HLing
Well-known
Doesn't this make all that "mobile online banking" very unattractive?
lynnb
Veteran
increasingly higher resolutions in cell phones and web cams poses another threat - I read an article (I'll post a link if I can find it) which shows how photos taken without user knowledge from a computer web cam and smart phone can be put together into a mosaic to build a much more complete HD picture of a home or office environment. If sensitive personal information is viewable (a check book, or credit card) then the sum of the information extracted can be much more valuable than the parts.
All this done without user intervention, knowledge or consent - including activating the imaging device/s.
All this done without user intervention, knowledge or consent - including activating the imaging device/s.
Rayt
Nonplayer Character
There was a rumor back during the Cold War the post office is reading your mail and the phones are tapped. I guess "they" finally got it right.
Vics
Veteran
Shoot! I forgot again to buy a cell phone! I'm missing all the fun.
a lot depends upon what privacy issue you consider. True the iphone GPS can't apparently turned off,
however Android phones are easy targets for all kinds of malware which does not attack iphones. antivirus programs are good ideas for Android devices, and of course Windows 8 phones. with iphones, its relatively a non issue.
Many users want to root their Android device for more control, yet some report that can make your passwords easily accessible.
supposedly an encripted iphone (locked after 10 attempts on the password) is virtually impossible to break. Not true with locked Android or Windows 8. A good hacker can get right past the passwords.
I personally can't believe how many people access their banks and Paypal on their phones. Lost or hacked phones can lead to major financial losses.
Stephen
oftheherd
Veteran
Photo_Smith
Well-known
Eh? I read the article on the iPhone and it just shows you how to bypass the location services and make your phone secure. Quote:
Turning location services off is relatively straightforward—simply go into Settings, Privacy, Location Services on your iPhone. From here you can toggle off location services globally such that no apps can access it.
Further, even if you have Location Services enabled for Safari, you should see a prompt whenever a web site is requesting location information from your iPhone. In fact, some sites such as Google Maps will even notify you when they cannot access your location, either because you’ve denied them permission (tapped “Don’t Allow”) or you have location services disabled—either globally or specifically for Safari
I couldn't get from the article any information to back up your "the iPhone is the least safe platform with most privacy issues" statement. In fact the way they work asking for user permission to authenticate is the correct way to do things because it allows the user to decide and if you're unsure you just block them globally by not allowing location services.
Also I have no doubt that RIM devices are secure, but you should be aware there is no free lunch and even security flaws are found in services used by Blackberry OS
However with devices such as the Torch 9800, the Bold 9780 and the Curve 9300 all affected there will be a lot of people out there who are vulnerable. WIth a huge amount of business people using these phones, RIM is contacting IT departments to warn them of the problem and suggesting they turn off JavaScript to protect their systems.
http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/BlackBerry-Security-Breach-Confirmed-By-RIM
If you're worried about these devices do what I do by an old dumbphone and use film. ;-)
Paul T.
Veteran
Personally, I'm not too worried about being tracked; but I am worried about losing my iPhone and having all my emails etc taken by a criminal who can request new passwords for PayPal, iTunes etc etc. Here's a good breakdown of how yours should be set up, from the London Evening Standard, in particular so Find My Iphone can't be deleted. Find My iPhone also allows you to delete your data remotely.
HOW TO KEEP YOUR DATA FROM BEING NICKED TOO
1. Select Settings
2. Click General
3. Select Restrictions
4. Set a Restrictions passcode
5. Click Enable Restrictions
6. Look for Deleting Apps and toggle the switch from On to Off. This will mean that no one can delete an app such as Find My iPhone without your Restrictions passcode
7. Scroll down the list of options until you reach the Privacy section, here you’ll find a link to Locations Services, click it
8. Select Don’t Allow Changes. This will mean it is impossible for a robber to disable the Find My iPhone application from broadcasting your GPS. You will now need manually to approve all new apps to access your location data.
9. Go back to the main Restrictions menu and select Accounts, changing this setting to Don’t Allow Changes. This makes it impossible for a mugger to disconnect your iCloud account that connects to Find My iPhone.
10. If your iPhone is stolen, it is only going to transmit its location for as long as a SIM card is inserted and is active. You may therefore wish not to inform your mobile provider in the case of a robbery until you have met the police.
HOW TO KEEP YOUR DATA FROM BEING NICKED TOO
1. Select Settings
2. Click General
3. Select Restrictions
4. Set a Restrictions passcode
5. Click Enable Restrictions
6. Look for Deleting Apps and toggle the switch from On to Off. This will mean that no one can delete an app such as Find My iPhone without your Restrictions passcode
7. Scroll down the list of options until you reach the Privacy section, here you’ll find a link to Locations Services, click it
8. Select Don’t Allow Changes. This will mean it is impossible for a robber to disable the Find My iPhone application from broadcasting your GPS. You will now need manually to approve all new apps to access your location data.
9. Go back to the main Restrictions menu and select Accounts, changing this setting to Don’t Allow Changes. This makes it impossible for a mugger to disconnect your iCloud account that connects to Find My iPhone.
10. If your iPhone is stolen, it is only going to transmit its location for as long as a SIM card is inserted and is active. You may therefore wish not to inform your mobile provider in the case of a robbery until you have met the police.
sevo
Fokutorendaburando
This will block apps from requesting your location data. Perhaps even the kind of apps a wife spying on her husband might install. Probably not the kind of apps the detective agency hired by a wife spying on her husband might employ. And it certainly will not work against spying by the network provider, all organizations he supplies data to, and every other organization capable to fake the communication protocol or modify the operating system your phone runs.
In a nutshell: Investigative journalists - even more so if they are investigating politics, big finance or any other form of similarly high grade organized crime - should not own or use a smartphone, and be very cautious using any cellphone at all.
kshapero
South Florida Man
Thanks, helpful.
Rangefinderfreak
Well-known
There was a nice incident lately in Finland. Woman got her cellphone stolen. Suddenly she had images on a man appearing in her album: Phone images. The thief was shooting pictures of himself and the app transferred the images to woman`s computer. Woman sent the pictures to police and the guy was identified as a "previous customer of police" hehe.
Sejanus.Aelianus
Veteran
There's no guaranteed way to preserve your privacy on the net, no matter how you access it.
When anyone talks about security you can judge their reliability by looking for two key phrases: "probability of targeting" and "probability of penetration". If those are absent from their statements, they are dubious.
Not that you can rely on that test overmuch, either...
When anyone talks about security you can judge their reliability by looking for two key phrases: "probability of targeting" and "probability of penetration". If those are absent from their statements, they are dubious.
Not that you can rely on that test overmuch, either...
jet1944
Member
do not forget emails ,facebook and twitter e.c.t
Photo_Smith
Well-known
Correct and that therefore doesn't equate to the iPhone being the 'least secure' phone system as insinuated-I hate iPhones and would never own one but lets not pretend it's the least secure!
Any data your provider shares is in the agreement with your provider and not part of inherently insecure systems.
willie_901
Veteran
RIM and Apple have closed systems which makes them, in principle, inherently less risky. For instance Apple unilaterally disabled JAVA on every Apple device connected to the Internet which protected those devices from a widespread malware attack.
Android has many different versions and phone users depend on many different vendors for security upgrades. The wide diversity of devices and vendors means security update distribution is inherently less coherent and the risk can be less, similar or greater compared to Apple and RIM devices.
The situation is analogous to Windows vs OSX. One is open and impossible to control, the other is closed and coherent control is possible.
Android has many different versions and phone users depend on many different vendors for security upgrades. The wide diversity of devices and vendors means security update distribution is inherently less coherent and the risk can be less, similar or greater compared to Apple and RIM devices.
The situation is analogous to Windows vs OSX. One is open and impossible to control, the other is closed and coherent control is possible.