Your Smartphone Knows Who You Are and What You're Doing

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It is scary to think about how much information your phone actually knows about you. Where were you last night? Your phone knows. Who were you with? Your phone knows.

"You can extract enough information on a typical person’s phone that you can construct a virtual clone of that individual," said Elad Yoran, executive chairman of Koolspan Inc., a communications security company. "They are the windows not just into our personal lives but they are equally the windows into our professional lives."
 
Hmm, looks like I need to write up a random script generator to automate random functions at random times on my phone.
 
The only thing is, do I need to worry about if my phone Transforms into a little autobot?
 
I really don't have an expectation of any privacy on my phone or tablet. I kinda dig saying "Ok Google, what is the weather for tomorrow". But my workstation is a different story. I make my living with it, spending 40-50 hrs a week behind it. It has to be locked down and rock solid. That is why I don't use Windows.
 
schizrade said:
Yet people are all up in arms about Windows 10... lmao.
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That's exactly why I groan every time I hear about these idiots that hate Win10 because they are all worried about data privacy... 99% of them already give even more sensitive info to Google or Apple anyway. There are plenty of legitimate issues that you can dislike Win10 for, but don't bitch about privacy while you have a smartphone in your pocket and Google and/or Apple know everything there is to know about you.
 
At this point, Google is borderline psychic. I killed an old account and opened a new one. Within 48 hours it more or less assumed who I was and started shooting me the exact same suggestions and whatnot.
 
schizrade said:
Yet people are all up in arms about Windows 10... lmao.
Click to expand...
I don't bank on my phone. And if I was compelled to choose, wouldn't use my phone for porn. Don't use my phone for my finances. Aside form communication, don't use one to do work for work.
 
My phone for almost 3 years now..
BlackBerry-Q10.jpeg
 
To think that it wouldn't know would worry me more with all the money dropped into these devices. Every other article we brag about how useful our smartphones are knowing this information that makes our lives much easier. We knew phones had GPS for quite a while now as well. This is nothing new to be honest. The way I see it, people are just willing to give up this private data for ease of access and having pertinent information available at all times.
 
Domingo said:
At this point, Google is borderline psychic. I killed an old account and opened a new one. Within 48 hours it more or less assumed who I was and started shooting me the exact same suggestions and whatnot.
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The wording I would have used is "Google is borderline psychotic"
Or is that word reserved for the users of Google's "free" trinkets that let them invade every aspect of their lives?
 
schizrade said:
Yet people are all up in arms about Windows 10... lmao.
Click to expand...
Fools are easily parted with their privacy and freedoms. Let's start with locking down Windows 10 and making cell phones follow suit. Yes, I complain about Windows 10. I don't use my phone for anything private. What makes you think we do?
 
Fortunately, *my* cell phone is pretty old... and stupid. I like it that way, and have no interest in changing it. It does what I want it to do, and that's it.
 
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schizrade said:
Yet people are all up in arms about Windows 10... lmao.
Click to expand...

I've got a rooted phone, custom ROM, Titanium Backup to Freeze most apps and the ones I do have to run I limit their data collecting using AppOps.

You were saying?
 
I'll get a smartphone when they can guarantee me security from the "baddies", probably never.
 
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schizrade said:
Yet people are all up in arms about Windows 10... lmao.
Click to expand...

People don't store their private data on their phones. If they want to lock down their PC, they should be able to. If they want to use the advanced features of the OS, they should be able to.

I choose to use every feature Windows has (which is annoying as fuck when I have my desktop and my Surface out and say "Hey Cortana..." and both answer my query (both with the exact same answer, so it's consistent!). But, there are a lot of people out there that want every piece of data to stay on their PC. They don't want to use Cortana, or the advanced web search, or have the telemetry send data back to Microsoft, or OneDrive... They want Windows 10, DirectX 12. Just without all the fluff.

I know my phone (Windows Phone 10) knows how long until I get home, it knows where I work, when I leave the house, etc.. My wife's iPhone will remind her about something right as soon as she steps outside. It's pretty damn accurate as far as locations go and my schedules. Cortana will remind me that I have to leave by a certain time to meet an appointment on my calendar. While it can be very handy, I know that the data is being shared. May not be personally identifiable, but it's pretty easy to guess with everything laid out.
 
I pretty regularly go into Google's privacy section and erase everything there. It's pretty astonishing the amount of data they store on the people who use their services. I found recordings of voice searches, including random background noise recorded when the phone (or the remote for my Android TV) mistakenly believed it had heard the "OK Google" command. It had a pretty good track on my goings around town and had even correctly guessed where I live (not such a problem since I live in an apartment complex) and where I work.

In the modern age not taking the reins and actively managing your privacy with the services that you use is effectively giving up the right to it.
 
Cobra said:
That's exactly why I groan every time I hear about these idiots that hate Win10 because they are all worried about data privacy... 99% of them already give even more sensitive info to Google or Apple anyway.
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That's exactly why I groan every time I hear these idiots bringing the non sense about Google or Apple when they want to blindly defend w10.

I have a choice of not using google or apple, but thanks to ms illegal monopoly, I don't have a choice on the desktop.

And as others stated, you can use your phone and not put any sensitive info in there, on your desktop, you have no choice.

I try to use Linux as much as I can, but not possible to be windows free yet.
 
I watched a documentary a few nights ago, "The Human Face of Big Data," and it's an eye-opening piece of work even for someone like me that's been "online" since the 1970s (yes, really). I know with the Snowden revelations that a lot more people became interested in just what's going on with data collection, privacy, and many other issues but that documentary pulled it all together quite nicely in a neat package and explained things incredibly well and even expounded on what's going to happen in the near-future with the collection of such massive amounts of data.

If you think it's all about the collecting of it, keep thinking because it goes way way past that now. If you're interested you can get more info at the website:

The Human Face of Big Data
 
grtitan said:
That's exactly why I groan every time I hear these idiots bringing the non sense about Google or Apple when they want to blindly defend w10.

I have a choice of not using google or apple
Click to expand...
If things keep going as they are, you won't have that choice for much longer.
 
grtitan said:
That's exactly why I groan every time I hear these idiots bringing the non sense about Google or Apple when they want to blindly defend w10.

I have a choice of not using google or apple, but thanks to ms illegal monopoly, I don't have a choice on the desktop.

And as others stated, you can use your phone and not put any sensitive info in there, on your desktop, you have no choice.

I try to use Linux as much as I can, but not possible to be windows free yet.
Click to expand...

Illegal monopoly? Please elaborate. I'd love to hear that one.

You have choice on the desktop. Linux, Mac OSX, Chromebook. Like you said, though, it's not possible to be Windows free yet. Why? Not due to a monopoly, as you have the other choices and you can use them. Because software developers target Windows as their platform.
 
If you're using the internet, then every company, government and half-decent script kiddie already knows more about you than you probably know about yourself. Doesn't matter what device or OS you use or how locked down you think you made your computer.
 
Koolthulu said:
If you're using the internet, then every company, government and half-decent script kiddie already knows more about you than you probably know about yourself. Doesn't matter what device or OS you use or how locked down you think you made your computer.
Click to expand...

You want to be 99% secure with your PC? Unplug the power from your computer. You want to be 100% secure? Don't own one.

If I'm online, I assume that the information I am entering is being watched. It probably isn't, but there isn't any way of knowing otherwise. If I have something I don't want to be known by anyone else save for the recipient, I'd hand deliver the message.
 
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