Can Your Smartphone Use Your Microphone, Camera to Gather Data? Yes.
- Posted on April 18, 2011 at 3:18pm by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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“Bugs” are usually reserved for spy movies and FBI stings. Not creepy crawly bugs, but rather the secret listening devices stashed under a desk or in a heating vent. But what if you carried a “bug” with you every day? You just may. According to a new report, some new smartphone apps are using your phones microphone and camera to gather creepy data.
Computerworld reports that “a new class of smartphone app has emerged that uses the microphone built into your phone as a covert listening device,” and app makers are selling it as a feature. “It’s the next best thing to reading your mind,” the outlet says.
It explains which apps are eavesdropping:
The apps are Color, Shopkick and IntoNow, all of which activate the microphones in users’ iPhone or Android devices in order to gather contextual information that provides some benefit to the user.
Color uses your iPhone‘s or Android phone’s microphone to detect when people are in the same room. The data on ambient noise is combined with color and lighting information from the camera to figure out who’s inside, who’s outside, who’s in one room, and who’s in another, so the app can auto-generate spontaneous temporary social networks of people who are sharing the same experience.
Shopkick works on both iPhone and Android devices. One feature of the app is to reward users for simply walking into participating stores, which include Target, Best Buy, Macy’s, American Eagle Outfitters, Sports Authority, Crate & Barrel and many others. Users don’t have to press any button. Shopkick listens through your cellphone for inaudible sounds generated in the stores by a special device.
IntoNow is an iOS app that allows social networking during TV shows. The app listens with your iPhone or iPad to identify what you’re watching. The company claims 2.6 million “broadcast airings” (TV shows or segments) in its database. A similar app created for fans of the TV show Grey’s Anatomy uses your iPad’s microphone to identify exactly where you are in the show, so it can display content relevant to specific scenes.
The apps try to sidestep any privacy concerns by saying they only record sound patterns, not actual sounds. Comforting? In the end, the technology is there, and it’s being used to some extent. Used for “marketing gold” to be exact. Computerwold explains what gathering ambient noise can actually tell companies about you:
- Your gender, and the gender of people you talk to.
- Your approximate age, and the ages of the people you talk to.
- What time you go to bed, and what time you wake up.
- What you watch on TV and listen to on the radio.
- How much of your time you spend alone, and how much with others.
- Whether you live in a big city or a small town.
- What form of transportation you use to get to work.
Still, there are popular apps — such as the music sleuth one called Shazam — which have used a phone’s mic for years. But that is usually an overt feature that must be activated. As Computerworld notes, “The new apps are often sneakier about it. The vast majority of people who use the Color app, for example, have no idea that their microphones are being activated to gather sounds.”
In the end, this seems to be a case of paying attention to the fine print. “Most app makers disclose much of what they gather, including audio data, but they often do so either on their websites or buried somewhere in the legal mumbo jumbo,” Computerworld notes.
The advise seems to be, “listen up.”
We know the apps are.
(The entire Computerworld article is worth a read here.)
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Comments (65)
Billsocal
Posted on April 19, 2011 at 11:41amI ve know this for years. I spent my first overseas tour in the Army assigned to a electronic intelligence base in Turkey. So I know what could be done back. The equipment and devices are onlt light years ahead of the early 1970s. I see these ads on TV tell you that you can deposit your check using your smart phone. That is highly dangerous. That means you are putting your private information about your checking account on the open air waves. There is no thing as unbreakable.. No code is unbreakable believe me. The other ad is the one for Chevy app for your smart phone. That allows the user to remotely unlock the doors and start up the car.. The bomb on that hasn’t hit yet.
Report Post »Paul_ Revere
Posted on April 19, 2011 at 1:44amWhat if you have a regular old phone like a Verizon not a smart phone ? Are you still safe ……………………..is there anyone …………out there…. I love pink floyd
Report Post »onejimharris
Posted on April 19, 2011 at 1:16ami should be in jail… ive killed so many people ive drop bombs on many countrys….oh yeah and my ex wife.?? has anyone seen her ??? :)
Report Post »stereojoe
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 11:01pmI am one of those “crazies” who have been warning my friends and family about this kind of stuff for years. I have been screaming about Google just as long.
I do not use or own a smart phone nor do I use ANY Google services. My web browser even blocks Google scripts from running on my computer (i.e., http://www.google-analytics.com/ga.js). Folks, this is how Google knows so much about our web history, they have this script planted on almost every website you could dream of visiting, including this one!
Report Post »islandlady
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 9:14pmI think we are bugged even more than we know but perhaps by the time our kids become grownups
Report Post »the trueth about this administrations bugs will be known.
mossbrain
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 8:36pmThat’s nothing. I spend most of my free time in the forests. There are many cameras in the forest, many government vehicles. They‘re looking for pot growers but they’ll keep an eye on you too.
Report Post »BubbaCoop
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 7:28pmGlad I only have a dumb phone.
Report Post »Meyvn
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 9:33pmPhones are only as smart as the one that owns them.
Report Post »fixer
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 6:37pmif you take your battery out,they won’t be able to track you.
Report Post »Professional Infidel
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 8:12pma person needs to do that, when wild horses can’t keep you away.
Report Post »thegodfather
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 6:28pmI saw this coming. I told people years ago, in the near future, we will all have a personal video audio recorders, the size of the button on your shirt. Your entire life will be chronicled…for your personal life archive.
The issue in the very near future is.. trying to stop people from using them, in everyday conversation.
Report Post »spirited
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 7:10pmHow about a t.v. screen?
>If it can project, why not view?
Report Post »44gricardo44
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 6:11pmLogan’s run
Report Post »UlyssesP
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 6:01pmAnd when they come for me I’ll shove that dry un-lubricated, rectangular smart phone right up their….
Report Post »mendolover
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 5:28pmI refuse to get a ‘smart phone’, but wonder how long it will be before I have no choice. Just bought a sweet iPod Touch. I wonder about that thing now.
Report Post »woemcat
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 5:23pmMoral of the story is, just buy a “dumb phone.” I’d rather have a phone just to call, take pics, and video, and perhaps for GPS. Nothing else. No internet, no facebook, no connecting to the “outside world.“ I love my ”dumb” phone!!!!
Report Post »axel@25
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 5:45pmthe only reason a “dumb” phone has a GPS is to locate the phone as it travels from cell to cell and to locate the phone if it’s used to call 911. In other words…even a “dumb”phone is smart enough to have you found by the Government if they want to. I don’think it can turned on remotely but turn it off whenever you can. unfortunatly if the battery is removed you may loose settings and memory.
Report Post »Ron_WA
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 8:17pmAXEL@25 is right “they” could ID, track, collect on & exploit even “dumb” phones if “they” choose but frankly while the govt. could collect on an ordinary American they just don’t have time to pay attention to & actually focus on 99.5% of people … you are MUCH, MUCH more likely to be the random victim of common electronic, identity theft crime as a result of owning a modern comms device …
Report Post »Ron_WA
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 4:56pmIt’s a bit scary that most people do not realize all of these “smart” devices & computers w/ transmit & rcv capability CAN be remotely activated if the correct countermeasures are not taken … this why the more cautious & classified areas of DoD & govt. agencies have never allowed certain electronic devices & infrastructure in those sensitive areas
… most people also don’t realize that almost all speakers can also serve as microphones – it doesn’t have to be a smart-phone or newer software app or device to clandestinely leverage technology
… my electronics & electronic engineering instructors in college were all former Signals Intel types & taught us all kinds of nefarious things you can do w/ both high & low tech technologies … believe me Big Brother may not always be listening but has the capability
If you REALLY want to be safe you don’t have to wear a tinfoil cap but you may want to physically isolate your comms/computer/media device & remove all power sources … but frankly very few of us have anything the intel services are interested in
Report Post »axel@25
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 5:48pmBut your “friends” might and you being on their lists may get you dragged in as well.
Report Post »jollylama
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 4:45pmmy iphone is so shiny and it’s so sleek, it does so much for me and i cannot ever leave it.. i’m lost without it.. i’m dead without it.. it will never leave me.. it’s my precious Sméagol.. it’s my precious..it’s MY PRECIOUS!!
Report Post »kjoyr814
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 4:41pmok….scary. are there any alternatives to google (i really like their reader and documents…) and facebook (love keeping in contact with friends and family as well as my political ‘stuff’)? if there are, what are they?
Report Post »Unabashed American
Posted on April 19, 2011 at 12:18amIxquick search engine’s claim to fame is that they do not record IP addresses of users, unlike Google.
Report Post »Uncle Dave
Posted on April 19, 2011 at 12:44pmI don’t know how much better or safer they are but I like Yahoo! I know they don’t invade your presonal space nearly as much a Google. Just be sure to read the privacy policy on any web site you use; I know it’s a pain and a bunch of legal-ezze, but you half to these days.
Report Post »I used to have a Facebook profile, now i just e-mail with my friends … I mean, do you really have to know what they are doing seven times a day. My neice is a nut with her Blackberry: I’m having lunch now, I’m picking up my son now, I’m brushing my teath now … really??
David
Posted on April 20, 2011 at 3:59amI hope to develop http://www.SurfTheWeb.com into an alternative to Google. I will be looking for companies with competing services that google offers to partner with me.
Report Post »@RCHER
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 4:31pmI LOVE the iPhone! Mmmm…this cool-aid is pretty good too.
Report Post »kspatriot
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 4:16pmExactly! A few years ago they talked about implanting “smart chips” in everyone and people raised hell. Now they’ve found a way to get everyone to carry them around with them voluntarily via their phones, credit card strips, GPS devices, etc. It might be time to “get off the grid”.
Report Post »BetterDays
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 4:22pmDon’t read page 1004 in Obama care if you want to keep your head burried in the sand then, Chips ahoy by 23 March 2013, come one come all, can’t buy or sell., just saying.
Report Post »bluesguitar777
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 5:44pmBetterdays – You sure about that?
1104
Report Post »•HR 3962 IH
1 such payments are being used for graduate
2 medical education, including—
3 ‘‘(i) the institutions and programs eli4
gible for receiving the funding;
5 ‘‘(ii) the manner in which such pay6
ments are calculated;
7 ‘‘(iii) the types and fields of education
8 being supported;
9 ‘‘(iv) the workforce or other goals to
10 which the funding is being applied;
11 ‘‘(v) State progress in meeting such
12 goals; and
13 ‘‘(vi) such other information as the
14 Secretary determines will assist in carrying
15 out paragraphs (3) and (4); and
16 ‘‘(B) such expenditures are made con17
sistent with such goals and requirements as are
18 established under paragraph (4).
19 ‘‘(3) REVIEW OF INFORMATION.—The Secretary
20 shall make the information submitted under para21
graph (2) available to the Advisory Committee on
22 Health Workforce Evaluation and Assessment (es23
tablished under section 2261 of the Public Health
24 Service Act). The Secretary and the Advisory Com25
mittee shall independently review the information
BetterDays
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 5:47pmThe Obama Health care bill under Class II (Paragraph 1, Section B) specifically includes ‘‘(ii) a class II device that is implantable.“ Then on page 1004 it describes what the term ”data” means in paragraph 1, section B:
14 ‘‘(B) In this paragraph, the term ‘data’ refers to in15
formation respecting a device described in paragraph (1),
16 including claims data, patient survey data, standardized
17 analytic files that allow for the pooling and analysis of
18 data from disparate data environments, electronic health
19 records, and any other data deemed appropriate by the
20 Secretary”
What exactly is a class II device that is implantable? Lets see…
Approved by the FDA, a class II implantable device is a “implantable radiofrequency
transponder system for patient identification and health information.“ The purpose of a class II device is to collect data in medical patients such as ”claims data, patient survey data, standardized analytic files that allow for the pooling and analysis of data from disparate data environments, electronic health records, and any other data deemed appropriate by the Secretary.”
This sort of device would be implanted in the majority of people who opt to become covered by the public health care option. With the reform of the private insurance companies, who charge outrageous rates, many people will switch their coverage to a more affordable insurance plan. This means the number of people who choose the public option will increase. This also means the number of people chipped will be plentiful as well. The adults who choose to have a chip implanted are the lucky (yes, lucky) ones in this case. Children who are “born in the United States who at the time of birth is not otherwise covered under acceptable coverage” will be qualified and placed into the CHIP or Children’s Health Insurance Program (what a convenient name). With a name like CHIP it would seem consistent to have the chip implanted into a child. Children conceived by parents who are already covered under the public option will more than likely be implanted with a chip by the consent of the parent. Eventually everyone will be implanted with a chip. And with the price and coverage of the public option being so competitive with the private companies, the private company may not survive.
Report Post »bluesguitar777
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 5:49pmPlease ignore my last two posts above.
Report Post »Country
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 4:05pmI’ll be right back….I just chunked by droid.
Report Post »Pelling1020
Posted on April 19, 2011 at 9:47pmMe too, just flushed it down the toilet, wait a minute, I have a sepic tank, hmmmm maybe it will just hang out there and snoop on all the crap that floats by. I think I’m gonna move!!
Report Post »tomloy
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 3:58pmThe app doesn’t have to tell you its accessing the microphone. You should always assume any conversation on electronic media is monitored. Best not to have a cellphone at all.
Report Post »mrmikejohnson
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 3:54pmGoogle has become the scariest company in America.
Report Post »MAJORMINOR
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 3:32pmWhy would I want to install such an APP on my phone if I respect my privacy??
Report Post »The way this reads, I have to knowingly be stupid enough to load the app in the first place.
…Duh..
BetterDays
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 3:49pmRead my post off of first posting thread, if you have a cell phone that’s less than a year and a half old, the government don‘t need no stinkin’ app.
Report Post »deeberj
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 4:00pmI don’t have a smart phone. I have a basic 10 dollar phone. Pay as you go, no contract.
Report Post »RAZIELCCCXVI
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 3:31pmThis isn’t another reason to get an iPhone, this expands to ALL so called smart phones and I am in agreement, that this will be abused by big government and big brother, especially with the Patriot Act…. since the Patriot Act itself allows any Federal agency to draw up and execute warrants WITHOUT a judge’s knowledge and signature.
Report Post »texasfarmer
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 3:21pmAnother reason not to get an iPhone.
Report Post »Theleftisda
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 8:12pmThat is the least of people’s worries!
Report Post »they can see,hear and scan everything in front of everyone’s
computer screen (using the screen itself)
J.C. McGlynn
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 3:20pmBig Brother is listening. This is why Google and Facebook have dealings with the White house.
Report Post »Sinista MACE
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 3:25pmNevermind social website infiltration, Feddie Gov is planning on maki ng everyone who wants to use the internet get an “Internet ID” so they can track your every action.
Welcome to the Police State.
Minority Report to ensue.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 3:27pmBig Sister in this case is listenibg in to us all. I wonder how long until the scene like this takes place in America:
(friend speaking to another friend)
Report Post »“I wonder if the story they (the fed’s) can use our phones as spy devices”
(phone rings)
“No young man we cannot use them…uh, forget this conversation ever happened.”
CatB
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 3:33pmGlad my phone isn’t “smart” … but makes one wonder doesn’t it … just what besides tracking can ANY cell phone provide?
Report Post »Mascoma
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 3:46pmCan you hear it… Listen… There it it….. ” Sieg Heil… Sieg Heil….
Wake up America… Wake up …
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 4:10pm@MasComa:
I can see the new anthem for communist USA:
“If the machine guns dont get you, the land mines will…if they fail to keep you away, the dogs will just make your day…irregardless the entire family will have to pay…”
Report Post »conversationcanwork
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 4:10pm@Betterdays
Thanks for giving me a lauch this afternoon, I needed it.
Report Post »BetterDays
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 4:16pmCONVERSATIONCANWORK
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 4:10pm
@Betterdays
Thanks for giving me a lauch this afternoon, I needed it.
“lauch”? I hope that’s not nearly as painful as it sounds?
Report Post »Just truth, no spin.
Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 4:30pmThis is exactly why I don’t trust anything Google or FaceBook and why I avoid them like the plague.
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 5:03pmAnd you wonder why I don’t have a cell phone?
Report Post »SacKings2312
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 6:25pmIt’s not the White House genius, it’s the CIA and the Federal Reserve that run it all… The White House are the puppets that you blame on a daily basis so that the real powers that be can continue to rule…
Report Post »Professional Infidel
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 8:10pmyea, both those google and facebook guys er (perhaps not) are marching to his (obozo’s) drum.
Report Post »teapartybase.com
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 8:44pmThey are getting bored with all of the billions of pages of private information that they have on us. Now they need to add private audio and video to the mix. 1984 here we come!
___________________________________________
Free Tea Party Blog Network at http://TeaPartyBase.com
Report Post »Meyvn
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 9:32pmSo what? All they will hear is stuff like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsQzw_Ax8Cw
With a big attitude behind it. And I ain’t alone.
Report Post »RedPillPatriot
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 10:48pmRight on Mascoma…. I hear the train cars being gathered….. the ovens are being preheated………………. listen to the sound of goose stepping…….. It’s coming.. but it’s only 1933 right now, we have a couple of years before the horror arrives! But it’s already set in motion, when they take the guns that will be the end. But they won’t take mine you say.. no but the’ll take your neighbors and his neighbor will give his up… and then you will be alone… wondering why… they all slept through it…. how could this happen they’ll say…. how could they do this to us…… Awe that’s crazy it could never happen again! could it……………..
Report Post »tower7femacamp
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 11:13pmHi Sinista mace, I think we have been preaching this stuff
Report Post »since Dec here, Do you think we have gained some respect yet ?
Sinista MACE
Posted on April 18, 2011 at 11:31pmI’m not sure Tower, I know Alex Jones is obliterating the mainstream media.
Report Post »Mee the People
Posted on April 19, 2011 at 2:26amcheck out what your cable box and satellite tv can listen and watch you do
Report Post »