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Surveillance
Self-Defense

Privacy Breakdown of Mobile Phones

Mobile phones have become commonplace and basic communications tools—now used not only for phone calls, but also for accessing the Internet, sending text messages, and documenting the world.

Unfortunately, mobile phones were not designed for privacy and security by default. Not only do they do a poor job of protecting your communications, they also expose you to new kinds of surveillance risks—especially location tracking. Most mobile phones give the user much less control than a personal desktop or laptop computer would; it's harder to replace the operating system , harder to investigate malware attacks, harder to remove or replace undesirable bundled software, and harder to prevent parties like the mobile operator from monitoring how you use the device. Additionally, the device maker may declare your device obsolete and stop providing you with software updates, including security fixes; if this happens, you may not have anywhere else to turn for these fixes.

Some of these problems can be addressed by using third-party privacy software—but some of them can't. Here, we'll describe some of the ways that phones can aid surveillance and undermine their users' privacy.

  1. Mobile Phones: Location Tracking
  2. Mobile Phones: Spying on Mobile Communications
  3. Mobile Phones: Phone Components and Sensors
  4. Mobile Phones: Malware