Have you ever been bothered by the fact that every time you enter a restaurant or store, your phone suggests you check in or leave a review, even when your GPS is turned off? Sure, Google knows where you are, but in reality, your apps (and whoever is behind them) can know a lot more using the most unexpected tools.
The usual suspects
Most basic features on your phone require your permission to use them: camera, microphone, location services, and so on. Apps are required to ask for this permission, and we all give it without hesitation if we want to use them. In most cases, apps don't do anything bad with this data, but they may sell it to advertisers.
1) Location Services. If you go to the Privacy section of your phone and check Location, you'll see a very detailed history of where you've been recently. This helps Google provide you with optimal routes and suggest restaurants, shops, etc. But in the wrong hands, this information could be a real weapon.
2) The Camera can also provide a lot of information about where you are. Some malicious apps can disguise themselves as something else (e.g. note-taking apps), ask for and receive permission to use our camera, and then take photos without us knowing, sending them to… who knows where?
3) Microphone. If you allow an app to use your phone's microphone, it can activate it at any time to record what you say.
Spyware – the good and the bad
Another way to track what someone is doing on their phone is through spyware: Apps that often require physical possession of another person's phone for a few minutes to install the malware, and then send screenshots, copies of messages, and emails to the person paying for the spyware subscription. This may seem like a dangerous thing, but in reality spyware apps serve important and often vital purposes. For example, they are often used by parents who are worried about their children – and there are many cases where such apps have prevented suicides, kidnappings, or even rapes.
The only problem with spyware is that the application must be trustworthy and honest, otherwise it can send the data it collects to anyone else. Unfortunately, many applications that are supposedly designed to monitor children or employees are actually used to steal PINs, passwords and money.
The spying methods of the future
Your phone has many features and sensors that can be used without permission because they're not considered dangerous. And yet, in the future, such innocent features as the accelerometer, barometer, and motion sensors could help advertisers (and criminals) learn all about you.
– Accelerometers can transmit data every time you start or stop moving (such as when you enter a subway train, when you exit it, etc.), potentially revealing your itinerary.
– Motion sensors reveal how you use your phone, which happens every time you touch its screen. This can be used to reveal the numbers you press on the touchscreen when entering a credit card PIN, for example, or anything else you type.
– Barometer – This sensor can be used to determine your altitude – that is, what floor you are on, providing additional information about your location.
– Ultrasonic beacons – these are signals embedded in certain apps and TV ads, which help identify a person's location and actions.
It seems that potential criminals and companies trying to learn things about you have a wide arsenal, and it's only going to get wider in the coming years. Of course, companies like Google, Apple, and others are working on creating apps that will protect you and prevent random services from getting permission so they can't leak your data.
However, the main responsibility lies with us: we must never forget that there is no real privacy on the internet – and that our phone can be watching and listening to us at any time.
