Every breath you take
One of the things that the iPhone has reminded me is that the cell phone always knows where it is at any given time. As long as it's powered on, at least -- and I haven't powered it off since I got it. On the iPhone, I can see on a satellite photo where the system has the phone located -- and it's eerie. The darn thing even knows which part of the house it's sitting in.
Who has access to this information besides me? I shudder to think, but I'm assuming the worst. Therefore, I don't find this story as upsetting as some people might. I also would be surprised if the (cough) lovely folks (cough) at AT&T can't also see which applications I'm using.
Oh, well. Great inventions tend to come with a high cost.
| Posted at 3:22 PM | Permalink |
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Comments (8)
It's not just phones. CNet's Brian Cooley recently reported rumors that the upcoming Chevrolet Volt electric car will include a black box for tracking your location and charging schedule back to Chevy.
Posted by Dave C. | August 12, 2009 3:39 PM
Chevy
Nothing new there. OnStar and other services use either cell tower or GPS info or both to locate your car, and some memory registers store certain events (such as engine over-revving in a BMW) that might interest the bigger brother. As for cell phones and PDA's, most of them now have GPS, too. What one wonders is what they may still reveal/report when switched off . . . .
Posted by Allan L. | August 12, 2009 3:52 PM
er...you can turn that locate feature off. it's not "always on" unless you want it to be.
Posted by the other white meat | August 12, 2009 3:53 PM
The next time you watch McGee on NCIS do his thing, don't scoff.
Posted by Lawrence | August 12, 2009 4:42 PM
It's not just the iPhone.
My Nokia and the Google Maps application is quite cool, too. Map shows which cell tower you are connected to when choosing "My Location" in the app.
Some phones like the iPhone use extended info from the various Wi-Fi access points you are near to make your location more precise.
Pretty cool technology, but definitely not for the paranoid.
Posted by Mike (One of the many) | August 12, 2009 5:30 PM
Woo-hoooo...
You guys are not only on 'the grid', you're actually 'targetted' on the grid.
Now...If they input a mic which they can control, they can listen in to you anytime...even when you're not using the mobile communications unit. Who says they aren't doing it yet?
Isn't technology wonderful?
Have they solved that little problem about other users being able to eavesdrop from beyond normal voice distance? Or, are you people still advertising the brand of buttwipe you're supposed to pick up at the store on your way home?
I think they need to legalize safe cell disrupters with a 50' range.
Posted by godfry | August 12, 2009 5:51 PM
What torques me is finding iPhone users tend to bump those with conventional AT&T phones off the towers.
Posted by Abe | August 12, 2009 8:23 PM
Look, there's no reason that you can't just opt out of all online tracking and protect your privacy... check this out...http://ff.ly/78k98v
Posted by Don Smith | August 13, 2009 8:53 AM