Your cell phone's gonna rat you out...

[Theophylact]

...to an advertising agency:

Auditory Eavesdropping

In the information age, surveillance isn't just for the police. Marketers want to watch you, too: what you do, where you go, what you buy. Integrated Media Measurement, Inc. wants to know what you watch and what you listen to -- wherever you are.

They do this by turning traditional ratings collection on its head. Instead of a Neilsen-like system, which monitors individual televisions in an effort to figure out who's watching, IMMI measures individual people and tries to figure out what they're watching (or listening to). They do this through specially designed cell phones that automatically eavesdrop on what's going on in the room they're in:

The IMMI phone randomly samples 10 seconds of room audio every 30 seconds. These samples are reduced to digital signatures, which are uploaded continuously to the IMMI servers.

IMMI also tracks all local media outlets actively broadcasting in any given designated media area (DMA). To identify media, IMMI compares the uploaded audio signatures computed by the phones with audio signatures computed on the IMMI servers monitoring TV and radio broadcasts. IMMI also maintains client-provided content files, such as commercials, promos, movies, and songs.

By matching the signatures, IMMI couples media broadcasts with the individuals who are exposed to them. The process takes just a few seconds.

Panel Members may sometimes delay watching or listening to a program by using satellite radio, DVRs, VCRs, or TiVo. IMMI captures these viewings with a "look-back" feature that recognizes when a Panel Member is exposed to a program outside of its normal broadcast hour, and then goes back in time (roughly two weeks) to identify it.

These cell phones are given away to test subjects, who get free service in exchange for giving up all their privacy.

I'm sure the company will claim not to actually eavesdrop on in-room conversations, or cell phone conversations. And just how different are these special phones, anyway? Can the software be installed on off-the-shelf phones? Can it be done without the owner's knowledge or consent? The potential for abuse here is enormous.

Remember, the threats to privacy in the information age are not solely from government; they're from private industry as well. And the real threat is the alliance between the two.

Thank you, Bruce Schneier.

[paul9]

First thing to do would be to put the simcard into a real phone, then use that.

[buckaro]

Lol, probably glued on or something .

This is worrying, but hey, if the security services, or police want to listen to you, they can, so as far as thats concerned, its the same. However, im not sure if this info actually can be listened to, or if simply the digital code is matched to another code from TV or radio, therefore making it impossible to listen in to converstions? itd be possible with modifications through, im sure.

Oh, and one more thing regarding cell phones, when i place mine near speakers, i sometime, randomly, get disruption to my speakers, could it be i am being tracked in this way by the phone company?

[VipFREAK]

As far as I'm concerned we've been screwed ever since we went wireless.

[RicheemxX]

Originally Posted by buckaro

Oh, and one more thing regarding cell phones, when i place mine near speakers, i sometime, randomly, get disruption to my speakers, could it be i am being tracked in this way by the phone company?

So long as your phone is turned on you are always tracked by your phone co.
{I think they can even track you when its off as long as the sim card and battery are in place} Your phone constantly sends and receives pings from them thats not that big a deal anything connected to a network has to have some form of constant contact.

[buckaro]

Well i knew you'd get some, because how else would you receive phone calls etc? However its the fact that sometimes the distortion caused is as high as if i was going to say, get a text, which says to me i could be tracked. Anyway, nm, thats life these days, i'll keep that in mind though, if i ever want to disapear, my phone is going to lose its battery

[paul9]

Originally Posted by RicheemxX

{I think they can even track you when its off as long as the sim card and battery are in place}

Nope, only when it is switched on.