Mass Surveillance – A Permanent Fingerprints of Our Daily Lives

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In a previous Notes I mentioned briefly about Surveillance capitalism based on book reviews of Prof Shoshana Zuboff’s book The Age of Surveillance Capitalism. In the book, the author describes the role of big tech companies to collect vast amount of our personal data, package them and sale to interested parties at high price, all without our permission. This is all done through highly attractive, ease to use tech devices & free service products. Such free tech products are designed with deceptive motives by taking advantage of no governing laws to prohibit such practices.

In a recent eye-opening article Twelve Million Phones, One Dataset, Zero Privacy in The New York Times privacy project, reporters Stuart A. Thompson and Charlie Warzel demonstrate our smartphones are being exploited to surveil our daily lives.

Surveillance with Smartphones

The New York Times reporters Stuart A. Thompson and Charlie Warzel analyzed trove of data from a location data company and reveal with imagery evidences that how smartphones locations are being used to create a diary of our daily lives. The mobile phone apps track our every activities like “where we go, whom we meet, or spend night with, where you pray, whether you visit a methadone clinic, a psychiatrist’s office or a massage parlor“.

The reporters inform readers that these personal tracking data “change hands in real time by transferring user location to app’s servers and exported to third parties in milliseconds“. They add that these data can be “resold, copied, pirated and abused. There’s no way you can ever retrieve it.“

We are living in the world’s most advanced surveillance system. This system wasn’t created deliberately. It was built through the interplay of technological advance and the profit motive. It was built to make money. The greatest trick technology companies ever played was persuading society to surveil itself.

Stuart A. Thompson and Charlie Warzel, The New York Times: Dec 19, 2019
How can we protect our phones

The Times reporters Stuart A. Thomson & Gus Wezerek recommend following three steps to protect our phones from location sharing.

  • Step 1: Stop sharing your location with apps: The location sharing can be turned off in our iPhone by settings > Privacy > LocalServices select never. This setting works for emergency, weather, and other apps work just fine without it.
  • Step 2: Disable your mobile ad ID: Mobile device users are identified by their device created unique advertising ID. Location data transmitted using this ID. To disable, go to Settings > Privacy > Advertising and turn on Limit Ad Tracking.
  • Step 3: Prevent Google from sharing your location: Google saves location data in our devices. It can be turned off from location activity controls panel and turning off location sharing.

Location tracking is hard to avoid. Location vendors identify (fingerprint) users by the type of devices, screen sizes, IP address etc. Mobile service providers also collect location data & sale to data brokers. However our digital fingerprints can be minimized by turning off location sharing apps and prudent & informed use of smart phone apps.

Resources Link

Content of this Notes was inspired by book reviews on The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff & The New York Times article on Twelve Million Phones, One Dataset, Zero Privacy. Cover photo source: screenshot Times’ article.