Smart phone technologies tracking anything and everything!

[lhb2444]

Who needs CCTV? Mobile devices offer a world of crowdsourced law enforcement where our cellphones police the streets – and perhaps us too

IN THE 'Big Society', criminals will live in fear of the people because there is nowhere for them to hide," British home secretary Theresa May told the UK's Police Confederation in 2010. The Big Society is a flagship government policy aimed at giving more power and responsibility to communities, and it turns out that May's words are prophetic. The fact is that we are all set to gain unprecedented crime-fighting abilities. But that's not thanks to this new policy - it's all down to the smartphone.

While many of us use smartphones to keep our social lives in order, they are also turning out to be valuable tools for gathering otherwise hard-to-get data. The latest smartphones bristle with sensors such as GPS receivers, accelerometers and gyroscopes, and researchers are making the most of this by enrolling people with these handsets in crowdsourcing projects, effectively handing the job of data collection to the public. In Boston, for example, drivers will soon be able to download an app called Street Bump that uses their phone's accelerometer and GPS to record the location of a pothole whenever their car bounces over one. Street Bump will then send this data to the city council.

Yet smartphones, along with other wireless gadgets, are also set to become powerful new tools for detecting law-breakers. In university labs and government agencies, engineers are linking our gadgets into novel surveillance networks designed to help catch criminals red-handed, or spot threats to public safety. In future, your cellphone or vehicle satnav, along with thousands of other devices like them, could work together to find stolen electronics, gather vehicle licence plates for the police in real time, sniff out banned drugs or gas leaks - and even help foil chemical attacks. These networks won't eliminate the need for a police force, of course, but they will give the government eyes and ears in a thousand places at once, creating what amounts to a 21st century neighbourhood watch - iWatch, perhaps - that criminals will have every reason to dread.

The first of these law-enforcement networks will be tested in September, but it is already clear that this form of surveillance faces major challenges. For a start, it can only be effective if enough people take part, so how can governments convince the public that these networks are worthwhile? And what about privacy? Will those in charge ensure that information collected is accessible only to those authorised to see it and not misused?

Threat to privacy

Christine Peterson, president of the Foresight Institute based in Palo Alto, California, warns that without safeguards, the data we gather about each other might one day be used to undermine rather than to protect our freedom. "We are moving to a new level of data collection that our society is not accustomed to," she says. "The phrase Big Brother is used a lot when [sensor] technologies are discussed," says technology commentator Howard Rheingold, whose 2002 book Smart Mobs describes the power of mobile communications to transform society. "But not even George Orwell envisaged a future in which everyone is Big Brother."

One surveillance system already attracting the attention of the US government relies on GPS position sensors to catch law-breakers. Many delivery companies use GPS tracking to monitor the whereabouts of their vehicles. However, some rebellious drivers use a small device which beams out a jamming signal to prevent their movements being monitored. The knock-on effects could be disastrous: a wide range of critical civilian infrastructure systems now rely on GPS, including airports, and following a series of deliberate jamming incidents, authorities are keen to find ways to pinpoint and catch those responsible (New Scientist, 12 March, p 44).

Our phones can help prevent this. At the 2010 Institute of Navigation's conference in Portland, Oregon, engineer Phil Ward proposed J911, a system which uses GPS sensors in cellphones and other gadgets to spot jammers. Many smartphones, for example, have sensors that are capable of identifying when GPS signals are being drowned out by electronic noise and Ward, who works for Navward GPS Consulting in Garland, Texas, proposes adding software that ensures smartphones automatically broadcast a report to a central control whenever a jammer is detected. The controller could then use these reports to determine the jammer's location and inform the police. Ward calculates that with a density of 1000 handsets per square kilometre, it would take just 10 seconds to pinpoint a jamming device to within 40 metres.

Ward's colleague Logan Scott presented the J911 concept to officials at the US Department for Homeland Security (DHS) earlier this year. They hope to set up a trial to test its effectiveness.

Others in the US government are already trying to make it work. In April, its Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency contracted GPS consultants Navsys Corporation of Colorado Springs, Colorado, to develop an app for smartphones using the Android operating system that would turn a handset into a detector of GPS jamming. Engineers at Navsys hope that if enough members of the public or emergency services can be encouraged to download the app, it will provide a high-density network capable of picking up even low-power jammers.

Spies on wheels

Scott would go further, however. He believes the only way to ensure effective coverage is with legislation that requires cellphone manufacturers to incorporate J911 detection and reporting capabilities into all new handsets. "It's an idea that is gaining some traction," he says. "There are major public safety issues at stake."

It is not just our phones that can turn us into citizen cops. Mario Gerla, a computer scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, plans to turn gadgets on our dashboards into a system to help police track suspect vehicles. A growing number of new cars have satnav and wireless connectivity, as well as video cameras incorporated into parking assist or collision avoidance systems. Add a licence plate recognition system, like those already used by police, and you have Gerla's MobEyes system (IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, vol 58, p 882).

In effect, MobEyes puts a cop in every car. With MobEyes installed, a vehicle automatically snaps each licence plate it encounters on the highway and labels the record with the time and location of the sighting. Every few minutes each car exchanges a list of logged plates with other participating vehicles within 100 metres or so. This way, every vehicle in the network rapidly gathers a database of licence plates in its vicinity. Police vehicles equipped with MobEyes can then track a suspect vehicle by sending out a request to MobEyes participants close to its last known position. The sighting records could then be used to trace a suspect's route.

Gerla says this network offers an effective way to quickly gather and monitor large numbers of licence plates. In computer simulations of a square grid of roads 2.4 kilometres across, he found that 300 MobEyes-enabled vehicles collected every licence plate on the road in minutes.

According to Gerla, managers at the US Intelligence Advanced Research Project Activity - a US research agency under the Director of National Intelligence - are interested in the technology and he is preparing a proposal for further research. He reckons it won't be difficult to get people to participate once it is rolled out: simply offering reductions in road or vehicle tax could be enough.

Incentives may not be necessary for a citizen-based sensor network called Cell-All which is due to be tested later this year, since signing up to this network could ultimately save your life.

Cell-All is an environmental surveillance system that uses cellphones with built-in sensors that sound a warning when dangerous chemicals are detected. This could signal an industrial accident, say, or a chemical attack. Developed by the US Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency (HSARPA), the system is designed to be a quicker and more reliable way to summon aid than solely having someone call up the emergency services. According to HSARPA, it should help save lives by alerting doctors and hazardous-materials response teams to incidents more quickly, as well as alerting them to the chemical threat they will face at the scene. Chemical detectors are already in place in some US cities, but a mobile network would be more effective and accurate than these fixed networks, claims Stephen Dennis, Cell-All project manager at HSARPA.

Whiff of death

Cell-All's first tests will take place in September, in a mocked-up hotel room at a fire department training centre in Los Angeles. Carbon monoxide gas will be released into the room, and if all goes to plan, a modified iPhone inside will sense the gas and automatically trigger an alarm, summoning the emergency services. In other tests, the phone will sniff for chlorine and ammonia.

To detect chemicals, the handsets make use of postage stamp-sized sensing chips developed by researchers at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. Though expensive at present, the researchers hope that mass production will reduce the cost of each chip to less than $5. According to Dennis, the sensors will eventually be capable of detecting dozens of different chemicals: up to 40 substances are "on the radar", he says. Such developments are likely to include the detection of ethanol, chlorine, hydrogen cyanide, toluene and mustard gas.

It sounds impressive, but is the threat of gas leaks or attacks so great that we could all be persuaded to pay extra for handsets with sensor chips, given that these sensors will also drain battery power? Focus groups questioned by the DHS suggest that we would - if we think our safety or that of loved ones is at risk. "The majority of people said they would be interested in having a carbon monoxide sensor," says Dennis. "Mothers of young children were especially interested, and said they would be willing to pay more for the handsets."

Clearly industrial leaks and chemical attacks are serious incidents. What is less clear, though, is whether Cell-All or a system based on it might one day be used to tell if someone has been boozing or taking illegal drugs. This has not been part of the criteria for developing Cell-All, says John Verrico, a spokesman for the DHS. "Any such future modifications like that would likely require significant engineering, but it is not in our scope to do so," he says.

The potential for this kind of "mission creep" is what most concerns Peterson. She points out that environmental scientists already monitor levels of pharmaceutical products in waste water flowing through the sewers. Almost inevitably they will also be tempted to look for residues of illegal drugs, she says, and the data could help to pinpoint where users live. "Unless clear principles are established, it will happen," she says.

Similarly, while data collected by your cellphone or satnav unit could help to trap a criminal, it could also reveal where you live and work, how you get to work, what places you visit and where your friends live. "Just because data is being collected for a reason we see as beneficial does not mean that will continue," says Peterson.

Gerla acknowledges that MobEyes could be misused. "It could obviously have political applications and could turn citizens into informants," he says. "But I think that if it happened, and was discovered, people would just turn off the system."

Verrico says government officials are aware of the challenge of convincing people that they can participate in programmes such as Cell-All without compromising their privacy. "The user has to take a positive decision to become part of the network," he says. "It's not your phone we want to track but the location of any alert."

In any case, the DHS is hoping to push ahead with Cell-All in partnership with technology company Qualcomm. It is also holding discussions with Apple, Samsung, LG and Nokia to discuss future handset designs. The DHS expects the first smartphones with chemical detectors to go on sale in 2013.

In the tussle between expediency and privacy, there could be a solution which satisfies both sides. "We wanted to make it possible for people to contribute to the greater good but not expose their own location or behaviours in the process," says David Kotz at the Institute for Security, Technology and Society at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. He and his team have developed AnonySense, a system that deploys a full gamut of security measures to protect the anonymity of anyone in a wireless network (Pervasive and Mobile Computing, vol 7, p 16).

Normally when a handset transmits a data packet it includes both its unique MAC address, assigned during manufacture, and its internet IP address. Amongst other techniques, AnonySense uses something called address rotation to disguise the MAC and IP addresses.

A system of public and private encryption keys is also used to encode and sign the data, meaning recipients can still verify that the information comes from a trusted source. Finally AnonySense adds extra protection by randomly varying the time between report transmissions - it turns out that cross-referencing reports made at regular intervals could help reveal users' identities.

Kotz and his colleagues have even devised two prototype crime-detection apps to test AnonySense. One, called RogueFinder, uses smartphone wireless signals to sniff out unauthorised wireless internet access points on college or business networks. The other, called ObjectFinder, uses Bluetooth signals to identify nearby gadgets and checks to see if they have been reported lost or stolen.

In tests with handsets running these apps, Kotz showed that AnonySense works as predicted. This has sparked HSARPA's interest: Kotz and Dennis now plan to discuss whether AnonySense holds lessons for Cell-All.

What of Kotz's two apps? Software similar to RogueFinder is already available, Kotz says, though his app might be an improvement. As for ObjectFinder, he has no plan yet to develop it. "Intuitively it seems a useful app," he says.

Meanwhile, Peterson is pressing for action on privacy. "We need to look urgently at who is getting the data, what they are doing with it, what it does to our freedoms and whether the information can be abused," she says. "And we need to think about these things now."

In an attempt to tackle these issues, the Foresight Institute has set up an initiative to encourage the development of open-source mobile sensors and data-handling techniques. The idea is that giving the engineering community responsibility for developing law-enforcement networks should help ensure that any data gathered is not misused. The result? Surveillance of the people, by the people, for the people. It sounds like a government minister's dream come true.

Nic Fleming is a technology writer based in London

Source

[obtuse]

another good reason not to buy into mobile phone technologies.

i for one refuse to adopt them due to their intrusive nature, let alone reasons like these.

i also refuse to join facebook as i always thought it would end up as a front for mass data collection.

i am constatly amazed at the degree to which people have taken on mobile phone devices so readily. i no longer see people talking to each other, just chatting on their phone or incessantly texting.

i was joking with a mate the other day wondering how easy it would be to make a portable jamming device. what fun.

Cheers, Obtuse.

[Slybacon]

i am constatly amazed at the degree to which people have taken on mobile phone devices so readily. i no longer see people talking to each other, just chatting on their phone or incessantly texting.

This is so true. There is a couple up the road I am friends with and when they fight one storms off and the fight continues over the I-Phone..... I fucking hate them, but the thing is Obtuse, even if you boycott them you still get effected by them. Its impossible to escape. I don't have a mobile at all now. I haven't for 2 years, No TV no Mobile no Newspapers. I'm not behind at all for not having them. In most respects Im in front. Try It.

Someone please make one of those graphics like syncr posted. Tv - Brainwash. Only Smartphone- Hypnotised/Brainwashed.

Its more addictive than crack.

Edited August 4, 2011 by Slybacon

[Francois le Danque]

thing is, phones ain't phones any more. they are computers. i think classical mobile phones, ones that can only call and text (which i still use, but only know like one other person who doesn't have an eyephone), will go down in history as a very short lived intermediate between when computer became accessible to the layperson and when they became completely integrated into our lives. and i don't think it's all bad; it would be hypocritical of me to say so through a computer. it will have positives and negatives. personally i think we lack enough privacy as it is though, so on that front there are issues.

[mac]

Got myself a Iphone 4 today

But im a good boy so i not paranoid about it being a GPS or listening device etc...

when it comes down to it they can put a chip in a light bulb AAA battery or glue it to a blowfly

Edited August 4, 2011 by mac

[santiago]

i see exactly what you mean obtuse, its mainly women too....blah blah blah, sorry girls i mean 9/10 women not all of them. i have a terrific insight into the world of the single mother and the typical new mummy type gym alah latte sipping, hungry jacks playground mothery situation thats so prevalant now days......whats so important these women typically need to be on the phone all day, little johnny's done a big poo poo, bout to take lil mary to pre-school and the lunch bar isnt open, hubby stayed a bit late at the pub last night OMG....its life just filled with meaningless dribble much like this post.

and if your an aussie bloke and you spend this type of time on the phone you should be ashamed of yourself.

i see a mate of mines face change dramatically...every night, every time...his night turns sour when the inevitable wifey starts a text fight, obviously they just wanna be connected, whatever...whenever, its just bloody sick.

and all these business types, all saying they need a phone they need a phone...........their whole life is in that phone, i argue, there were people 1000 times more successful than you 20 years ago who coped just fine and made their millions without constantly being connected.

all it is is constantly being insecure and lonily...what a shame.

the simple answer is just to use it for emergencies and to reply to texts, the rest is just meaningess, useless BS.

in terms of the money, if i offered you some $$$ just to not talk, most people would take that offer, can you imagine today tonight TV show saying "make free money by staying silent".

well thats all you need to do, a penny saved is a penny earned and with these ridiculous unnecessary phone bills-all you need to do is shut up and the money you save on your phone will magically appear in your bank account.

pssst dont tell anyone.................its a secret

[Alchemica]

Cell-All is an environmental surveillance system that uses cellphones with built-in sensors that sound a warning when dangerous chemicals are detected.

To detect chemicals, the handsets make use of postage stamp-sized sensing chips developed by researchers at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. Though expensive at present, the researchers hope that mass production will reduce the cost of each chip to less than $5. According to Dennis, the sensors will eventually be capable of detecting dozens of different chemicals: up to 40 substances are "on the radar", he says. Such developments are likely to include the detection of ethanol, chlorine, hydrogen cyanide, toluene and mustard gas.

 

...I'd actually upgrade my phone from the $20 piece of crap I have, if they put some decent chemical sensors in it... save me buying a hand-held spectrometer.

You think they could expand the sensor to detect anything worthy of recreational ingestion, without sending off some signal to people not needing to know?

[Slybacon]

Got myself a Iphone 4 today

But im a good boy so i not paranoid about it being a GPS or listening device etc...

when it comes down to it they can put a chip in a light bulb AAA battery or glue it to a blowfly

 

I'm a good boy so Im not worried..... LOL. What if tomorrow it became illegal to do your fav activity, or your best friend. Or imagine another war subscription. Its not always you they will listen to either.... If you think shit doesn't go down in this country and we are just being paranoid tell that to my best mate who recently got set up. He served 18months doing slave labor at a prison logging camp. This was in AUS not some far out country. Shit happens wether your a "good" boy or not.

[nabraxas]

i don't have a mobile because i don't need one.

i did have one & was buying those pay as you go credits.

i used to buy the least expensive amount, $20 i think.

i'd only use about $5 worth & then at the end ov the month it "expires" & you have to buy more.

what a fucking con.

i can't think ov any other non perishable product that does that.

imagine if you filled your tank w/petrol & if you hadn't used it all in a month then it expired.

i don't understand how they are able to legally do that.

i stopped buying credits & stopped using the phone.

i only wanted it in-case ov emergencies when we're out in the bush & you can use a phone w/no credit or SIM card for 000.

then i realised that there's no coverage in 99% ov the areas we go anyway.

waste ov time & money.

*grumpy old man rant end*

[SunChaser]

I don't think there's much difference in having a smart phone to just having a normal mobile and computer, the authorities can obviously trace your steps either way.

Anyway, I'd been waiting for a mobile to come out that was a mini computer since the whole mobile phone thing started happening, so personally I love my iPhone. I just think it's awesome to be able to track the sun, moon and the rest of what's in the sky when ever I want without even needing a Internet connection. Or to be able to keep track of your diet, with a accurate record of exactly what you've been eating and everything that was in it. Or even simple things like the fact that you've got a dictionary in your pocket. It's a mp3 player and good for watching videos on long drives. When you've got a Internet connection it's also a map and GPS, not to mention it just fits in your pocket so you don't need to worry about it being stolen like with a laptop.

Personally, I think the positives out way the negatives when it comes to smart phones.

Anyway, I've always thought it was just a matter of time before it would be compulsory for everyone to carry around a single mobile device that would do everything (like smart phones, plus more), like have all our information on it, from bank cards and licenses to criminal and medical records. So if you get pulled over by the police they'd just scan your mobile device and download everything about ya. You won't need a wallet or money, at the shops they'll just scan your device. Even mail will eventually only be sent to you though your device. Your whole entire existence will be in a neat little file on your device. 

It just used to be a little theory of mine, now with these smart phones I think it's inevitable.

Peace

[Slybacon]

It just used to be a little theory of mine, now with these smart phones I think it's inevitable.

 

And thats the thing..... We are not being forced to adopt to a society that functions this way. We are being programmed to WANT a society that functions that way..... Its fucked!

[Sallubrious]

Let's not forget that the firmware can be silently upgraded by almost any bozo with the appropriate software.

Once they do that you almost become an unpaid agent for them.

[SunChaser]

And thats the thing..... We are not being forced to adopt to a society that functions this way. We are being programmed to WANT a society that functions that way..... Its fucked!

 

I suppose. But the way I see it, by the time I'm an old man population growth will have become unsustainably large and the world economy will have probably crashed and I'll be lining up with a empty stomach for my meager rations, reminiscing about how good it used to be.

Peace

[SunChaser]

Or you could just go bush and create your own self sustainable society, there's still plenty of isolated land in Australia. You just need a breeding pair of chickens and milking cows, some grain and veg & fruit seed, also a few like minded people. Then just fuckin go bush and find a isolated permanent water hole and your set. Back to the simple life and at one with nature where the human mind is most content.

Peace 

[mac]

tell that to my best mate who recently got set up. He served 18months doing slave labor at a prison logging camp. This was in AUS not some far out country. Shit happens wether your a "good" boy or not.

So if he was innocent or was set up what did it concern (without incriminating anyone) to do 18 months , i take it it wasn't a first offence

[Slybacon]

So if he was innocent or was set up what did it concern (without incriminating anyone) to do 18 months , i take it it wasn't a first offence

 

Possession with intent to distribute, he was a user not a dealer. The material came back at 2% purity no scales or baggies found. $4000 cash mysteriously disappeared. First offense. The magistrate son was involved in a home invasion and my friend testified against him then two years later he was set up big time. Most of the evidence gathered was via mobile phone surveillance, and not his phone. Didn't matter tho as they pressured him till he plead guilty. He went to get on and then 20 mins after getting home the door was bashed in by the TRG. Freaky shit, a real eye opener for me. There was some info on it in the Freeman thread but no details.

[MindExpansion]

...I'd actually upgrade my phone from the $20 piece of crap I have, if they put some decent chemical sensors in it... save me buying a hand-held spectrometer.

You think they could expand the sensor to detect anything worthy of recreational ingestion, without sending off some signal to people not needing to know?

 

Yeh interesting concept man.

[mac]

yeah that's the thing Slybacon

It sux what happened to your friend, but i would blame the circumstances surrounding the incident.

surround yourself with people who are up to no good or, mess with the wrong people & this sort of thing happens you have to expect red flags to be raised.

i had a similar experience when i was younger but i keep to myself these days & cut my ties with that scene over 12 years ago when my first child was born

thanks for expanding on the story gives us all something to think about

Edited August 6, 2011 by mac

[Moses]

surround yourself with people who are up to no good or, mess with the wrong people & this sort of thing happens you have to expect red flags to be raised.

i had a similar experience when i was younger but i keep to myself these days & cut my ties with that scene over 12 years ago when my first child was born

 

Not always so easy to cut ties, friends or friends of friends can still be construed as association, trust me.

I have acquaintances on both sides of the fence, take for instance i work near court pass by one day and a local chapter is out front supporting a mate, someone says hello someone else sees it and i get a chat at the pub to tell me my names come up on a list of associates it's that simple. I too cut ties with my first born or so i thought.

i have the most basic of phones only because both gov and industry has made it that you need to have them or they wont deal with you.

i think mobiles are a huge cause of social discord, you have a bad day you go home and you harden up but now you whinge and cry and spread gossip 24/7, grow up and fucken get a life.

well that's how i see it.

[mescalito]

This is so true. There is a couple up the road I am friends with and when they fight one storms off and the fight continues over the I-Phone..... I fucking hate them, but the thing is Obtuse, even if you boycott them you still get effected by them. Its impossible to escape. I don't have a mobile at all now. I haven't for 2 years, No TV no Mobile no Newspapers. I'm not behind at all for not having them. In most respects Im in front. Try It.

Someone please make one of those graphics like syncr posted. Tv - Brainwash. Only Smartphone- Hypnotised/Brainwashed.

Its more addictive than crack.

 

Model "Free Man".....good stuff dude!!

Hat's off to ya

Got myself a Iphone 4 today

But im a good boy so i not paranoid about it being a GPS or listening device etc...

when it comes down to it they can put a chip in a light bulb AAA battery or glue it to a blowfly

 

Why bother when analogue became too much of a pain in the arse obviously the phase out of all things analogue was instigated...mandatory digital or miss out ...I can't wait, because the Teev will not be replaced with a digital and my bub won't be staring blankly at the flicker rate being programmed...this tactic still works with the old sets, but will be easier to manipulate digitally.

They can use the phases in the mains power lines in your bloody house....and stock up on incandescent's,or go LED's not the CFL's.

Sly would know why.

I'm a good boy so Im not worried..... LOL. What if tomorrow it became illegal to do your fav activity, or your best friend. Or imagine another war subscription. Its not always you they will listen to either.... If you think shit doesn't go down in this country and we are just being paranoid tell that to my best mate who recently got set up. He served 18months doing slave labor at a prison logging camp. This was in AUS not some far out country. Shit happens wether your a "good" boy or not.

 

Hehe, visited a mate the other day to fix his cupboard door and he had used his phone to text in an order the night before.He told me he walked out, then the "delivery" dude saw the bluey's and drove off.My mate was questioned......I fucken warned him about this stuff,but no I'm a Conspiracy nut LOL.

And thats the thing..... We are not being forced to adopt to a society that functions this way. We are being programmed to WANT a society that functions that way..... Its fucked!

 

Too true man, we survived OK without them!

Simple, get an analogue answering machine with no call ID and tell ya mates to wait or get a life.

[synchromesh]

Getting spied on while getting brain cancer at the same time? Yeah, sounds good government...