How your phone spies on you

It's not just phone operators who are profiting from the public's love of iPhones, BlackBerrys and Android handsets. A new breed of digital spies has emerged, who may be ripping you off right now.

Could you survive without your iPhone or Blackberry? For many, the answer will be a resounding no. Smartphones and social networks allow us to share information and stay linked in with friends and colleagues 24/7. But whilst sharing your photos, favourites songs and holiday plans with friends is harmless enough, there are some social network snoopers out there who you may not want to share anything with.

These digital spies come from both the worlds of crime and commerce and see the smartphone and social media phenomenon as nothing more than a way to make money. So to help you avoid being spied on and ripped off, here are a few digital snoopers you should watch out for...

Tech-savvy burglars

Google got a slap on the wrist from the information commissioner last week after breaching data laws when collecting information for its Street View service. Since its launch last year Street View has proved controversial – many see it as an invasion of privacy and a research tool for burglars.

But the real Holy Grail for burglars is not information made available by Google; it is the information posted online by many householders. Location based smartphone services like Facebook Places and Twitter Locations allow users to share their whereabouts with friends. But for the social networking thief, making a location tagged post is the same as saying, “I’m not home right now, why not pop round and burgle me?”

Reports began to emerge last year that many robbers now ‘farm’ social networks for information and use services like Street View to draw up hit lists of vulnerable homes. The rise of location specific smartphone software will only add to this.

Insurers have also warned that households could face premium rises if anyone in the property (even a child!) is a member of a social networking site. So to help you avoid expensive insurance rates and social network motivated robberies, here are five things you should never reveal online...

• Your location – Burglar-speak for“I’m not in, rob me please!”
• Your home address – Burglar-speak for “This is where I live, pop the address into Google Street View and you’ll be able to plan how to break in!”
• Holiday plans – Burglar-speak for “I’ll be away for the next two weeks if you want to burgle me!?”
• Photos of your house – Burglar-speak for “Avoid these security lights and alarms when you rob me!”
• Anything you use as a password or pin number, such as your birthday or middle name – Burglar-speak for "Have access to my money!"

Data mining

Social networks enable snooping thieves to acquaint themselves with your digital identity, allowing them to find out what you own and when you’ll be out of your home. But it’s not just thieves who are vying for your personal data.

The debate surrounding commercial ownership of personal data is one that’s rumbled on for years. The age old adage of “we may share your information with carefully selected third party organisations” has often turned out to be slang for “we’re going to flog your phone number to a double glazing company who will phone you up over and over again until you eventually get fed up and change your number”.

But the smartphone craze has opened up a new way for companies to mine personal data – often without users even realising that it is happening. Smartphone application developers such as Flurry, Pinch Media and Appcraver are prime perpetrators of this digital snooping.

Many apps are now programmed to harvest personal data from a user’s smartphone every time they are turned on. This information can include location, dates and times of when a user opens the app and the user’s age and gender (if the smartphone is facebook enabled). Certain apps also ask the user to input personal information every time the software is enabled – this is voluntary, but the software will often not load unless the data is entered.

This data is then transmitted to the app developer who may use it to tailor applications to the social groups that use them the most, in an attempt to sell more software. Scary and invasive, some will say. Just better customer service will be the reply from app developers.

But this data does not always just stay with the developer.

Behavioural advertising

An accurate demographic breakdown of the buyers of smartphone apps is not just useful for profit hungry developers; it’s also advertising gold. So much so that many app developers are now selling this personal data on to advertisers, who will place adverts within apps that are targeted at the social groups that use them.

The ultimate aim of this new marketing sector is to use personal and behavioural information obtained online to accurately predict what products you may be interested in purchasing. Whilst this behavioural advertising may sound farfetched, an early form of it is already in full swing on Facebook.

A study carried out earlier this year by the Max Planck Institute and Microsoft showed that Facebook uses personal information to select adverts appropriate for the user. This could be anything from merchandise for your favourite band to adverts determined by your sex.

The social networking giant has also come under fire recently for allowing third party apps access to user’s personal data. A memorable example of this was when one Facebook user apparently logged into the site to find an advert assuring him that hot single women were waiting for him. The user may have been more appreciative of the advert, if the accompanying picture wasn’t of his wife!

The good news is that Facebook privacy settings can be customised and the information made available to third party apps limited. Just head to the privacy settings tab on your homepage. As for those snooping smartphone app developers – the only remedy is to ensure you always read the terms and conditions anytime you download and sign up to any app. Either that or steer clear of smartphones all together.

Where will it all end?

At the moment, it seems pretty harmless - but where will it go next? Are we far away from an age where a text message to a friend suggesting a coffee sets off an advert directing you to the nearest Starbucks? How long before data mining advertisers start targeting you with adverts for cheap weekend breaks as they know you've been chatting online about taking a holiday?

Is this just more efficient customer service or a creepy invasion of our privacy? Post your opinions in the comment boxes below...

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