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Mobile Phone Users' Movements Are Tracked and Sold For Profit' - World News - The Guardian
Mobile Phone Users' Movements Are Tracked and Sold For Profit' - World News - The Guardian
Mobile Phone Users' Movements Are Tracked and Sold For Profit' - World News - The Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/04/mobile-phone-use...
British mobile phone users are one data breach away from having the
routines of their daily lives revealed to criminals, privacy campaigners
have said.
Mobile phone networks and wireless hotspot operators are collecting
detailed information on customers movements that reveal intimate
details of their lives, two separate investigations into mobile data
retention have found.
Many people unwittingly sign up to be location-tracked 24/7, unaware
that the highly sensitive data this generates is being used and sold on
for prot. Campaigners say that if this information were stolen by
hackers, criminals could use it to target children as they leave school or
homes after occupants have gone out.
It is so detailed that it can reveal customers gender, sexual
orientation, religion and other many personal details that could
present serious risks of blackmail.
Eectively consumers are opting in to being location tracked by
default, said Geo Revill, the founder of Krowdthink, the privacy
campaign group behind one of the investigations published on
Monday.
The fact of the matter is your mobile service provider knows
without you knowing where you are, how you got there and can
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04/04/2016, 08:26
Mobile phone users movements are tracked and sold for profit ...
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/04/mobile-phone-use...
04/04/2016, 08:26
Mobile phone users movements are tracked and sold for profit ...
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/04/mobile-phone-use...
But just because they collect this data does not mean that they have
an automatic right to process that data for other purposes without our
consent. If they dont, they are removing our right to control this data
and the risks associated with their using it.
Britains mobile phone industry is worth 14bn, with 93% of adults
owning a mobile phone and 61% owning a smartphone. Data collected
from these phones, including usage, web browsing and location
histories, is used to build proles that are used by advertisers and
other undened businesses.
Location data is collected from the cell towers of a mobile service
provider when it tracks a customer to route a call to them. There are
now 52,000 cell towers in Britain. In some areas they are as close as 50
metres apart.
Wireless hotspots are also potential location trackers, with many
public providers opting customers into tracking by default in their
terms and conditions. In many cases these hotspots will log registered
customers location as they pass through, even if they do not sign in.
Krowdthinks investigation found that some providers, including O2
and Vodafone, use the same privacy policy for wireless as for their
mobile phone customers. The combination of the two networks
enables them to track location with even greater delity of location
tracking.
However, customers do have a legal right to opt out of location
tracking for marketing purposes and, with the forthcoming European
General Data Protection Regulation, will soon be able to demand that
their location data is deleted.
Krowdthink and the ORG warn mobile users to turn o wireless
internet when they are out to avoid disclosing their identities as they
pass through hotspots. They also warn people to be aware that they
could be providing information on their location when sharing digital
photos and video images and downloading mobile apps.
Killock added: Mobile phone companies should improve the
transparency of their operations by making their privacy polices
clearer, giving customers information about what exact data they are
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Mobile phone users movements are tracked and sold for profit ...
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/04/mobile-phone-use...
collecting, how long they will keep it for, how each particular type of
data will be used, who it will be shared with and the risks associated
with this.
They should also make contracts available before the point of sale and
marketing and location tracking opt-outs simpler.
More news
Topics
Surveillance Mobile phones Telecoms Data and computer security
Wi-Fi Privacy
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