I typed in the FIRST LETTER of the guy's first name...and the rest auto-filled.
Exactly. It listens frequently and does it well. There may even be things Google can do beyond that using EM emissions from your phone, and/or setting off a cascade of "issues" in your life. Its had the capability to work in this capacity for years already, and its improving almost exponentially. Definitely worry.[/QUOTE]
Modern smart phone are insane security risks.
When I deployed as a civilian engineer aboard the USS Florida a few years ago, I gathered the other two engineers who came with me and told them to get their electronic devices together. (I'm a retired submariner and quite familiar with security issues). I got with the ship's Navigator and discussed the security concerns, as the three of us had cell phones, tablets, and laptops.
Many people here probably know a smart phone can be used to track your travel history through a variety of means. But did you know that one of those means is essentially as an inertial navigation system? Think about it...your phone is sensitive enough to use as a game controller, where twisting, turning, and otherwise moving the phone is translated into video game responses. This means it's entirely possible for a smartphone which has simply been left powered on to track the complete deployment of a submarine. Course, depth, speed, and location, all date-timed.
SPAWAR, decades ago, put out that vehicles equipped with ONSTAR and similar systems were security risks because those systems could be used to remotely tap into conversations taking place in the vehicles WITHOUT the occupants knowing it was happening...therefore no classified or sensitive information of any kind was to be discussed within them.
As an engineer, I can think of any number of ways a phone could be used to spy on people which go beyond simple audio spying or internet history most people think of.
Your smartphone is an exceptionally sensitive piece of electronic instrumentation. It may be possible that the proximity of your smart phone to other electronic devices could couple data between the two. This is a well known security issue with computers tied to networks with CAT-5/CAT-6 cables instead of optical fiber and is the reason why network cables and landline phone cables have minimum clearance requirements to prevent outsiders from possibly using other systems to tap into the data you are accessing on your computer. The proximity of your smart phone to your laptop/desktop may itself be a security risk due to the ability to detect the electrical signals your computer is generating while in use.
Your phone is positively identified automatically as it connects to the cellular network. It's simply how it works. Which means as you travel there is a record of where your phone is at any given time. Signal strength along through the various network antenna connections will give an accurate location, all nicely date-time stamped in the system. If you are investigated for some criminal event, it may very well be possible for investigators to correlate your story with where they knew your phone to be at various times.
And more than this...with pattern recognition algorithms, as well as human analysis of the data, it's possible that either a lack of data, or simply a discrepancy in the data, may also be damning information.
Let's say you're smart enough NOT to bring your phone with you, or to turn your phone off, when you decide to across the state, or several states, to burn your ex's house down. You're a suspect because you're the ex of the victim. Investigators do their thing, interview you and all the potential witnesses and the victim, etc. Hey! Your phone was off for the amount of time it would take to travel to and from the scene of the crime, plus a bit more! Hey! Your phone was on, but it was completely stationary for 2 1/2 days, totally inconsistent with your previous patterns! Hey! Your phone was still in your normal area the entire time, but there was no phone/internet use consistent with your normal patterns!
The data collection is complete enough that the LACK of data IS data.
And as smart as some people are, there are people at least as equally smart working for the government, probably smarter, and with access to a LOT more equipment and processes than nearly anybody else, especially those not affiliated with other governments. Heck, our own government built the Utah Data Center (and if you haven't heard of it, google it). The so-called "Dark Web"? All that amounts to are various networks tied into the internet which require specific equipment, software, and permissions to access. And if there's one thing our government IS good at, it's EXACTLY this kind of stuff. So the "Dark Web" is only as secure as the government's lack of interest in avidly pursuing something into it.
IS THERE A REASON TO BE PARANOID?
I guess that depends on your perspective.
It's most certainly a d*mn good reason to keep an eye on the government and push for all the privacy laws we can. Because if there's one thing both government and industry have proven over time, it's that if they don't have any legal restrictions on the matter, they'll run rough-shod over people and we'll not have any legal recourse against them. They'll STILL do it, mind you...but if they get caught, at least John Q. Public has some avenue to pursue for damages afterwards.[/QUOTE]
GREAT post! Thank you!
It occurs to me that with modern hacking, someone could even make it look like your phone was somewhere it wasn't, thus framing you.
Also, regarding what I wrote about EM emissions: For decades now technology has existed that can literally beam sounds into the human brain bypassing the ears! This is usually achieved using high intensity waves from a "piezo" emitter, of which a cell phone almost qualifies with both radio waves and their highly efficient little speakers. Its occurred to me that someone could use smart phones to facilitate all kinds of situations, up to attempting to drive someone insane or push them to commit acts of violence.
The shooter in Pittsburgh who shot up the synagogue one October a few years back...told his doctor he had been hearing "electronic sounding voices and noises in his head" in the months before he snapped. I think there have been similar cases. I won't necessarily argue that it WAS his cell phone...but the technology does exist...it has been weaponized by several governments for some time...and modern Smart Phones seem almost capable of such things now. If someone was messing with those shooters electronically, it could just as easily have been a satellite or a psychoacoustic setup in a van outside...probably more likely. But I think phones may also be able to function in that capacity to a point if someone wants them to.
