Are Cellphones Destroying Our Privacy?

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EDINBURGH, Scotland -- We know that the wireless carriers have a lot of information about us. But what exactly do they know, and does that data create an enormous privacy risk? According to two experts who have dug deeply into this issue, the answer is a resounding yes.

Christopher Soghoian, who is slated to join the ACLU as its Principle Technologist later this year, believes that the wireless carriers haven’t done nearly enough to close security gaps that make your phone calls, text messages and data available to anyone with relatively unsophisticated surveillance equipment. For example, Soghoian demonstrated how a $20 burner phone can be transformed into a simple (albeit imperfect) surveillance device.

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Speaking earlier this week at TED Global, Soghoian said this is possible because the 2G protocols that early cellphones relied on were built with very limited security capabilities. And while 3G and increasingly 4G networks now cover most of the U.S., most phones are still backwards compatible, meaning they’ll access 2G networks when 3G or 4G aren’t available (or are intentionally being jammed by someone with malicious intents), and hence be vulnerable to third-party tracking.

While this vulnerability is currently used primarily by law enforcement, Soghoian says, “[you] don’t want criminals, paparazzi and stalkers having access to this technology, and they now do.” He’s also concerned that the carriers and the government in the U.S. refuse to hand over the data they have about you when requested by citizens and journalists.

In Germany, Malte Spitz, a German politician, had a different experience. After filing a lawsuit against Deutsch Telecom in attempt to get his data, he was ultimately able to obtain detailed records. The results: more than 35,000 lines of code, representing six months of his life. Spitz turned that data into a that deciphered his habits and behaviors based on his location, phone calls and text messages.

Much like Soghoian, Spitz fears that this gives far too much power to the carriers and the government. In his TED Talk on Wednesday, he hypothesized that had cellphones been prevalent in 1989, the Berlin Wall may not have fallen, since it would’ve made it far easier for East Germany’s secret police to identify dissidents.

As such, he advocates that people pressure their governments to prohibit the storage of cellphone data. “When you go home, tell your friends that privacy is a value of the 21st century and it’s not outdated,” he said.

Similarly, Soghoian would like to see U.S. lawmakers adopt laws that allow citizens to get information from carriers in the way that Spitz did in Europe, and develop rules around data retention periods, for which there are currently none. He also wants the carriers to take 2G towers offline, which would be a big step in closing the security vulnerability he described.

Do you think the carriers should be required to share your data with you? Should they even be retaining data in the first place for use by law enforcement? Let us know your thoughts on the issue in the comments.

Image Credit: Ryan Lash, TED Conferences

This story originally published on Mashable .

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