Is your smartphone too clever?

21 Replies Christopher Roberts

Smart phones are amazing. 50 years ago who would have predicted that you could hold a device smaller than your hand that could:

  • Take pictures
  • Connect with your car
  • Listen to music
  • Send text messages (SMS)
  • Make a video call with someone on the other side of the world
  • Track your location
  • Surf the internet
  • Understand your voice commands
  • …and loads loads more

Notice anything that could be a security risk from the list above? Well if you listen to the news, you will probably have heard the bad PR iPhone have got themselves by discovering a glitch which showed everywhere their owners had been!

Is the iPhone Safe?Apple have denied that they have been tracking users, but if someone got hold of an iPhone they would be able to download a list of every place that that phones (and probably it’s user) had been to, via the use of GPS.

Do you think that all these flashy features come at a price? Is the security of our private information being exposed more and more in this modern-day ‘technology powered’ world?

The thing is, it isn’t just the iPhone – the iPad has also been tracking users locations!

If you want to find out more, check out this online Q and A page on Apples website.

Another privacy issue…

A few days later Sony announced that it was taking down its PlayStation Network service, due to hacking which affected 77 million gamers!

Sony say that that the data might have fallen into the hands of an “unauthorised person” following a hacking attack on its online service. This data it thought to include things like names, passwords, addresses, date of births and email addresses. Another reason why it’s very important not to use one password for everything.

If you think you might have been affected by this other breach in security, check out Sony’s blog post on the issue.

Your views

Are we too dependant on technology? Do we give away too much information (often sensitive) about ourselves? Do firms really need all this data from us, and do they need to take a greater responsibility in implementing more measures to keep our info safe?

Categories: Gadgets News Smartphones Technology
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Written by Christopher Roberts
Founder and editor of Technology Bloggers, Christopher is passionate about sustainable technology and environmental initiatives. He wants to popularise critical thinking, promote responsible innovation, and excite you about the world around us.

21 thoughts on “Is your smartphone too clever?”

  2. DiNaRa

    Well, I may sound a bit sceptical but my personal information and my passwords won’t be interesting for anybody 🙂 So I don’t worry too much about whether my locations or movements have been followed or not: I do nothing wrong.
    But our dependence on technology is really frightening – personally I won’t leave a house without a phone and a credit card. I can’t live a day without the Internet and some social networks. I can’t imagine my life without various smart devices in the kitchen.

    Reply
    • Christopher (admin team)

      You’ve got the tech bug DiNaRa!

      It’s always a good idea to keep personal info safe though isn’t it?

      Reply
  5. Travis@TradeTechSports

    Google and Apple taking over the world…well I guess they said that about Microsoft as well. Of course, now days everything is connected…reminds me of that movie from like 10 years ago, it was pretty cr*ppy, but they had to use Carbon Copies from a fax machine or something to communicate to avoid the authorities. Or maybe Eagle Eye more recently 🙂 another cr*ppy movie.

    Reply
    • Christopher (admin team)

      2 things Travis
      1) I think Eagle Eye is an okay film, it’s not great but I liked it
      2) Please don’t use words like cr*ppy. I know some people say it’s not a swear word, but it’s not a great use of our fantastic language – besides, we could have children reading!

      Reply
  6. Maria Pavel

    In my book, a phone is something to call or get called. If i want pictures i buy a camera. If i want to get on the net i buy a laptop. If i want to listen to music i can get an MP3 player. That’s why i still have some old philips 160 phone with monochrome screen and i have no intention of changing it.

    Reply
    • Christopher (admin team)

      I see your point, but is it not handy to carry a camera with you on your phone. Likewise if you want your iPod and your camera, and your phone, and your laptop all with you at the same time, is a smartphone not a much lighter alternative? (I should mention, other music players are available ;-))

      Reply
  7. SEO Gurgaon

    Of course, that’s not to say you need to have a certain IQ in order to get along with one of these modern day techwonders. Environfone merely found that 71% of the 2,000 smartphone owners surveyed only use their devices to call, text or check Facebook. Delving in a little deeper the research also found that a typical person only uses 10% of their phones functions.

    Reply
  9. Josh

    Every company is responsible to protect their clients, no matter what… So personal information of their clients must be well taken care of to avoid any problem that might result to a serious damage on them. Otherwise, it might result to the downfall of the company.

    Reply
    • Christopher (admin team)

      Would you agree that it depends on the size of the company Josh? Firms like Apple and Google would be pretty residual and would have a pretty good ability to ‘bounce back’.

      Reply
  10. Antonia

    I keep waiting for when we’ll be able to grow wings out of our phones and fly. And i want to have a normal and intelligent conversation with my phone. Then i won’t need any friends, i’ll be completely free.
    But still, i do remember when a phone was made for talking. Something my kinds will never be able to understand.

    Reply

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