Any device with a camera, microphone and a wireless connection or bluetooth signal is almost certainly spying on you
Is there any evidence you could point me to that this is actually happening? I’m mean with like a stock android phone and without the user actually activating mic or camera.
It’s more the fact that MAC addresses have an inherent ability to track you, and many such companion devices you might interact with are in fixed locations.
Modern security conscious Wifi devices address this by randomising MAC addresses - they’re no longer fixed for wifi. You can even configure different wifi networks to have randomised per-connection or per-network (default per-connection), so you can still set up MAC filtering easily.
Bluetooth unfortunately requires fixed MAC addresses as a core part of its pairing functionality. What’s more many connections can require you to provide bluetooth contact data - the same data used for covid contact tracing - eg Ford’s implementation of Android Auto among others.
So your car might not only be tracking you with its internal GPS and cellular 4G connection, it also wants to know wherever you go with your phone, based on the Bluetooth LE devices you ping.
As such you should turn your bluetooth off whenever you’re not using it.
Yeah with that they’re likely talking about apps spying on you. That isn’t really a phone thing, but pinning down exactly which apps do it is hard. Almost certainly it’s Facebook apps (especially the hidden system apps they get manufacturers to install), wouldn’t be surprised if reddit’s app does some of that as well.
Personally, I’ve not had that problem in years, but I run custom ROMs without gapps, and generally try to stick with FOSS apps. However it definitely is a thing where you have a conversation about something around your phone and then soon after see ads for that thing.
stock android phone and without the user actually activating mic or camera.
Assuming you’re disabling the mic or camera in some way, either by getting into the phone’s guts or storing it in a safe place, then it’s certainly less of a consideration. Same with keeping the wireless connection off when you’re not using it.
I keep mine in a faraday bag for instance. The unwanted private surveillance can be largely avoided within your own space.
If you’re not using the mic or camera then the only data being collected is the data you actively put into it.
I made a video this week about the case of a schoolteacher in Illinois who was arrested after making a joke about shooting a student in a Snapchat DM, for instance. The automated AI alert system that Snapchat uses alerted the FBI, who alerted the county sheriffs, who then arrested her.
What made the Guthrie case stand out is that it was concrete proof from a government source that people are being surveilled without a warrant, and if it happened there, there’s no reason to suspect it isn’t happening everywhere.
Cell tower signal can be used to triangulate you as long as the SIM card is powered. Do you trust your phone not to keep the SIM powered, even when “off”?
WiFi and Bluetooth isn’t even fully off when you disable it on stock Android unless you specifically tell it not to do “background scanning”. This option is not displayed in the WiFi/BT settings, you have to visit the location services and turn it off there.
Even then, do you trust that setting to actually be off?
faraday bag
Ah that’s a solved issue. Process and/or store whatever you’re collecting on device until signal returns, then upload. No problem.
Is there any evidence you could point me to that this is actually happening? I’m mean with like a stock android phone and without the user actually activating mic or camera.
It’s more the fact that MAC addresses have an inherent ability to track you, and many such companion devices you might interact with are in fixed locations.
Modern security conscious Wifi devices address this by randomising MAC addresses - they’re no longer fixed for wifi. You can even configure different wifi networks to have randomised per-connection or per-network (default per-connection), so you can still set up MAC filtering easily.
Bluetooth unfortunately requires fixed MAC addresses as a core part of its pairing functionality. What’s more many connections can require you to provide bluetooth contact data - the same data used for covid contact tracing - eg Ford’s implementation of Android Auto among others.
So your car might not only be tracking you with its internal GPS and cellular 4G connection, it also wants to know wherever you go with your phone, based on the Bluetooth LE devices you ping.
As such you should turn your bluetooth off whenever you’re not using it.
Yeah okay, but MAC tracking is something else than a device using camera or microphone in the background without your explicit permission
Yeah with that they’re likely talking about apps spying on you. That isn’t really a phone thing, but pinning down exactly which apps do it is hard. Almost certainly it’s Facebook apps (especially the hidden system apps they get manufacturers to install), wouldn’t be surprised if reddit’s app does some of that as well.
Personally, I’ve not had that problem in years, but I run custom ROMs without gapps, and generally try to stick with FOSS apps. However it definitely is a thing where you have a conversation about something around your phone and then soon after see ads for that thing.
Assuming you’re disabling the mic or camera in some way, either by getting into the phone’s guts or storing it in a safe place, then it’s certainly less of a consideration. Same with keeping the wireless connection off when you’re not using it.
I keep mine in a faraday bag for instance. The unwanted private surveillance can be largely avoided within your own space.
If you’re not using the mic or camera then the only data being collected is the data you actively put into it.
I made a video this week about the case of a schoolteacher in Illinois who was arrested after making a joke about shooting a student in a Snapchat DM, for instance. The automated AI alert system that Snapchat uses alerted the FBI, who alerted the county sheriffs, who then arrested her.
What made the Guthrie case stand out is that it was concrete proof from a government source that people are being surveilled without a warrant, and if it happened there, there’s no reason to suspect it isn’t happening everywhere.
Cell tower signal can be used to triangulate you as long as the SIM card is powered. Do you trust your phone not to keep the SIM powered, even when “off”?
WiFi and Bluetooth isn’t even fully off when you disable it on stock Android unless you specifically tell it not to do “background scanning”. This option is not displayed in the WiFi/BT settings, you have to visit the location services and turn it off there.
Even then, do you trust that setting to actually be off?
Ah that’s a solved issue. Process and/or store whatever you’re collecting on device until signal returns, then upload. No problem.
It’s not collecting much inside a Faraday bag. Especially if it’s thick enough to muffle sound.
I don’t trust my tech much at all, hence the faraday bag.