Would you want someone knowing who you are calling and
who is calling you on your cell phone? Regardless of how
much effort you put into talking in private and deleting
all phone logs, it is still very easy to track all cell
phone calls. There are numerous websites which allow you
to type in a phone number and find out exactly what
calls have been made to/from that phone. For people with
abusive spouses or stalking victims, this is a serious
threat. But it is also a threat for anyone else because
of the potential of identity theft.
Lawmakers have taken action to stop cell phone tracking
websites by introducing numerous cell phone privacy
laws. However, the technology which tracks cell phone
use is advancing much faster than the laws prohibiting
it. If you head online, you can easily get access to
complete records of incoming and outgoing cell phone
calls. Then, a reverse cell phone directory can tell you
exactly who these calls where to/from.
If you have a smartphone, then it is likely you have the
Carrier IQ software in your phone. This software tracks
all your cell usage. It was added to help the phone
companies improve their services. However, the
information from Carrier IQ is easy to hack into. A
hacker could then tap into the phone company databases
and find out every single thing you did on your phone
down to the very keystroke. Inevitably, this could be
taken advantage of by the same companies which offer
reverse cell phone lookup and people search services.
Representative Markey of Massachusetts introduced the
Cellphone Privacy Bill in the start of 2012 to protect
cell phone users privacy. The act would require all
phone companies to tell customers about the tracking
software and the customers would then have to consent to
have their data collected. All of the companies which
would access the information would have to be registered
with the FTC and FCC.
Even if the law does work as planned, it isn’t likely to
be completely effective. Even before the Carrier IQ
software, web companies found it very easy to get access
to your personal cell phone information. You could go to
a website, type in a number, and find out what numbers a
cell phone called. The web companies which offered this
service often wouldn’t even need to hack into the cell
phone provider database. Instead, they would just
pretend to be the customer and ask for the phone logs.
Since it is so easy to find out who the owner of a cell
phone is with a reverse number search, getting phone
logs isn’t much of a challenge.
The truth of the matter is that your cell phone use
isn’t ever going to be completely secure. You should
always be cautious when using your cell phone and make
sure to check your accounts regularly for unauthorized
activity. |
