The new dangers of the mobile world

The New Dangers of the Mobile World

By: Mark Tremblay

Image by Phil Roeder

We’re witnessing a shift away from desktops and laptops onto mobile devices.

Image by A Magill

The figures don’t lie, in January to March of 2010 alone, 314.7 million phones were sold.

Source: The Growth of Mobile: Stats and Figures will Shock You

Image by Bradley P Johnson

Currently over 70 percent of the world’s population now owns a mobile phone.

Image by Toastyken

A child is more likely to own a mobile phone than a book.

Image by Tammra McCauley

Source: The Growth of Mobile: Stats and Figures will Shock You

It’s easy to see why the shift has occurred, mobile phones are multi-functional; people

can call others, SMS, do online banking, check the news, and purchase products.

Image by Array Exception

But with all these luxuries come many disturbing problems

Image by Digitpedia

The first problem comes from applications like Foursquare; a social network were people “check-in”to places they visit.

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It acts like a 24 hour surveillance system in which people can’t go anywhere without others knowing.

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“I realized I didn’t want people knowing where I was lunching, what time I was

leaving work, or whether I had night time plans.” Barry Lowenthal

Image by Smemom87Source: There’s Nowhere to Hide

Applications like Foursquare also promote negative human behaviours like narcissism

and self-absorption. People become obsessed with advertising themselves like a “brand.”

Image by James Cridland

“I wasn’t sure that my real whereabouts were reinforcing the image I wanted the

world to conjure up when they thought of me.” Barry Lowenthal

Image by Mrs. GemstoneSource: There’s Nowhere to Hide

The second problem created in a mobile world is the invasion of privacy in regards

to the law.

Image by Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Is it legal for police to do a random cellphone check?

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“When you consent to have your smartphone searched, you’re also

giving up data on all your contacts, who haven’t consented” Charles Arthur

Image by Ed YourdonSource: Smartphone not so Smart

The third problem is privacy invasion found within the devices themselves, researchers

recently revealed that IPhones store locations co-ordinates and timestamps on

owner’s movement.

Image by Zapple DotSource: IPhone Keeps Track of Everywhere you go

This means if anyone ever stole someone’s IPhone, they could discover all sorts of details about the owner’s movement using a simple program.

Image by Jason A WhiteSource: IPhone Keeps Track of Everywhere you go

“Location is one of the most sensitive elements in anyone’s life.” Simon Davies

Image by HuskySource: IPhone Keeps Track of Everywhere you go.

Apple actually has permission to all of this data; at the end of its 15 200

condition agreement for iTunes, there is an 86 word paragraph on “location-based

services”.

Image by E.R.I.NSource: IPhone Keeps Track of Everywhere you Go

Privacy invasion has also captured on with Google who have admitted to capturing

and saving WI-FI data.

Image by Richard Masoner Source: IPhone Keeps Track of Everywhere you Go

The final problem with the mobile world is its effect on people’s basic common

sense.

Image by Tim Raferty

This year, 1 500 people had been fined 167$ dollars in Vancouver for texting while driving. In 2010, 17 000 drivers

were charged in Toronto.Image by Oregon DOTSource: Does Texting While Driving Make Sense to you?

Have we become so plugged in that we‘ve forgotten the basic rules of driving school “Always pay attention to the road, avoid

distractions.”

Image by DRB62

“We already have the most sophisticated machine known to man (the brain). If

that doesn’t work, no app will.” Andrew Clark

Image by Stuart FrisbySource: Does Texting While Driving Make Sense to you?

Some feel, myself included, that people text while they drive because

they think they’re very important and that people think very highly of them.

Image by [email protected]

What do you think? Are we going to see an improvement of these issues or will things get

worse?

Image by Konrad Foerstner

Credits

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