Mobile phone risks and good practice

The use of mobile or cell phones is becoming increasingly common in today's society with over 5 billion connections worldwide. The Asia-Pacific region accounts for nearly half of all connections, and other regions such as Africa, South America and Eastern Europe are also seeing rapid growth.  There are more women using mobile phones all across the world than with access to a personal computer.

The mobility, convenience and affordability of mobile phones have made it a key communication tool. Mobiles help keep all sorts of vital information at our fingertips – much more than just our contact lists. We use it to stay in touch with each other, conduct businesses and remind ourselves of important notes and events. As internet connection and cameras become a standard feature in most mobile phones, we also use it to find information, get entertained, and capture moments in our lives.

Mobile phones have become an important platform for us to exercise our right to expression, information and opinion, and many people around the world have use them to document violations and engage in public and political participation. Initiatives such as Hollaback and Harrass Map help shame aggressors at the same time that they raise awareness to the problem.  For many women, mobile phones are a life line to help. Many women and girls are also choosing to exercise their purchasing power through buying mobile phones because of their usefulness and importance in today's context.

Because mobile phones have become such a central part of our lives, it's important to be aware of some of the associated risks and vulnerabilities. Mobile phones are small and made to travel with us and as a result are frequently lost, or targeted by thieves. As they get more advanced there are increasing points of vulnerability to be aware of regarding your personal safety and privacy. Since you also store a lot of information about your friends, family and contacts on your phone, protecting your privacy also means protecting theirs. 

What's the risk?
Good practices for keeping safe
 

What's the risk?

1) Tracking your location

What makes a mobile phone “mobile” and able to make calls on-the-go is its ability to connect to phone towers all over our countries. As we go from one zone to another, our mobile phone constantly is seeking out a tower signal in case you need to make a call.  This means that even the most basic mobile phone can be used as a tracking device because cellphone communication infrastructure must necessarily pinpoint location.  For many, this is not a problem, and the convenience of a mobile phone is what matters. However, it is important to be aware of  how mobile phones work – even the simplest variety - in case revealing our physical location can put us at risk.

By simply having our phone switched on, sending SMS or making phone calls, we reveal quite a lot of information about where we are. A really good example that illustrates this is a timeline map created by a German Green politician who asked his phone provider what they tracked as part of providing his phone service. He discovered that the information revealed a precise picture of his activities: http://www.zeit.de/datenschutz/malte-spitz-data-retention. 

It's important to note that he was only able to do so because in Europe, consumers have the right to demand what information is retained about them by private companies. Many of us may not know what information phone service providers record about us, and who has access to this. If a phone service company has poor data protection policies, then your information could also be vulnerable to any of their employees. It's good practice to check and ask how they protect your data when you apply for a phone service.

Even if you have picked up a prepaid or pay-as-you-go SIM card at a market stall, your phone and that SIM card number are being tracked by the company to provide its service and some of this data may also be recorded in your phone's registry information. If your phone was purchased as part of a plan, the owner of the plan may have access to information like call history and when text messages were sent, as part of the service bill. The legal owner of the phone is also able to register it with a mobile tracking company that allows the phone to be easily tracked if lost.

Such a service enables an abusive partner  to check up on their partner's movements' using the geographic location signals that phones give out. It could show them exactly where their partner is on a Google map.  Here is an example of a service like this and how it works: http://www.traceamobile.co.uk/faq.php Newer phones feature global positioning systems that take advantage of the mobile phone infrastructure and further pinpoint location.

2) Going through your personal communication and contacts

One of the most common ways for someone to monitor your communications is to simply look through the messages and call history on your phone.  This could be done by someone close to you who has access to your phone, or  by a stranger if your phone was stolen or brought in for repair.  If you live in an abusive situation and make a phone call to a shelter or visit a website looking for help, this history will be recorded on your phone and could be found by the abuser. If your phone has a camera, it may be storing photographs that you wouldn't want just anybody to see.

Some couples also make it a habit to pick up each other's mobile phones or read each other's SMS messages. While you may think this is okay, this can create a communication practice that does not respect each other's privacy or personal spaces. Contexts may also change, and what could be okay at one point may not be later.

3) Spyware

Spyware is software that is installed without your knowledge and can be used to spy on your movements and communications.  It is becoming more widespread and easier to buy and install, even on basic phone models.  If someone has access to your phone to install spyware directly, this can extend to being able to use your phone's built-in microphone as a remote bugging device.  For example the commercial program Flexispy advertises its product as one that can “catch cheating wives or cheating husbands”, and there are many more similar products available.

With only a small amount of technical knowledge, a husband, boyfriend or girlfriend could easily set up his/her partner's  phone to track her movements at all times on a map. By installing spyware, they could listen in on her conversations through the microphone without her knowledge. The phone turns out to be a pretty useful tool for an abuser, or even a stalker.

Even if someone does not have direct access to your mobile phone there are other ways that spyware can get installed. For example, through connections to computers and the internet, by downloading unofficial applications or apps, and through insecure wireless networks or bluetooth connections.  It is a good idea to install apps that guard against malicious software and to turn off wireless when you are not sure that the wireless network has been setup securely, and only enable bluetooth when you need to use it, keeping it turned off the rest of the time.

Malicious software, or malware, is the entire range of programmes generically and incompletely referred to as virus.  Such programmes proliferate on internet pages and via email and usually attempt to disrupt computer operations, gather information, or gain control over a computer. To learn more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malware

4) Smartphones & applications

An increasing number of phones are  also accessing the internet.  This means that all the issues affecting computer use such as malicious software used to spy on you can also affect mobile phones. In fact, they are more vulnerable because they are small and more easily lost or stolen. 

All of the most common types of smartphone (e.g. iPhone, Android, Windows, Blackberry) use downloadable “apps” which are like software on a computer.  This software can contain viruses  and you need to be very careful about where you are downloading from.  While Apple restricts the ability to download unauthorised applications for the iPhone,  this can also restrict the availability of useful tools to protect you.  Android phones use open-source software which encourages more developers to make new apps , both good and bad, so it is a good idea to stick to the approved apps available in the Android market since Google monitors these.  The Guardian Project is developing apps that will help you protect your phone from monitoring.

5) Cell phone plans

Remember you are especially vulnerable to these programs if the person who pays for or set up the account with the mobile phone company is also your abuser. Imagine a woman who is living with an abusive husband.  If she tries to use that phone to access information on refuges or contact a domestic violence helpline the record of the numbers she rang and the sites she visited could well be itemised and sent to the husband each month along with the bill, even though she has taken care to delete this information from her phone's registry.
 

Good practices for keeping safe

Assess the risk

What information do you have on your cell phone? What would it mean if it got stolen – what would you no longer have and what sensitive data would others have? If it was in the hands of an abusive partner, will it put you at risk? If it is in the hands of a known person or unknown person, can you be blackmailed? If you run a women's shelter, do you have confidential client and contact information?  Does your phone have GPS and is it activated? Do a risk assessment of your data to be able to  understand which of the following practices are most important for you to follow.

Claim your right to privacy

It's good to establish some ground rules when it comes to accessing each other's mobile phones in a relationship or family. It not only protects your privacy, it also protects the privacy of friends and family whose information and communication with you is stored there.

Having a conversation about privacy with your family, friends, partner, children can help to resolve disputes and raise awareness.  Talk about what is okay and what is not.  Discuss when it is ok to share messages or pictures and when it is not.  It is important to have a person's permission before you share something about them, and always doing this yourself can help others understand and follow your example.  Ask you friends and family how they feel about privacy, and make informed decisions based on your principles and respecting the rights of others.

Data security

Regularly go through and delete any unnecessary data that you keep stored in your phone, call history, old contacts, text messages and photos or other files that you store in your phone memory.  Keeping the data tidy by making this a regular habit makes it less likely that your privacy will be breached.  It is also less obvious to a suspicious partner this way than if you normally keep data forever and then suddenly wipe everything.

Password-protect

Protect your phone with a password as the first step to defending your privacy. If you think locking the phone with a password will raise suspicions and cause more violence try using other ways to hide or disguise the data you need to protect, renaming contacts or storing information on a different SIM card or folder within the phone.  Regularly deleting SMS messages and photos may be the best protection.  Decide what is best for you in your situation.

Get to know how your phone works

Phones store data in various places, such as your contacts list and the list of SMS messages, file folders and so on. If for example you need to remove trace of someone you have been in contact with you may need to check several different locations on your phone, for numbers, messages and perhaps photographs or videos. Each phone company has a different operating system which will store information in varying ways. Take the time to understand how your phone works. Check your phone's privacy and basic security settings.

Geolocation

Some phones allow you to disable geolocation features which record your movements and can help pinpoint your location.  There are two methods that are used, both the regular cell network, as mentioned above in Section 1 Tracking your location, that transmits data to and from your phone and the global positioning system (GPS) satellites , which are more accurate.  Sometimes you can choose to disable GPS and still use the less precise cellphone tower geolocation to be able to take advantage of useful mapping tools. Note that GPS information can also be recorded in other data you produce with your phone, like in pictures, or in social networking updates, so be careful to review all of these settings.

Alternate SIM card

If you think your phone may be insecure or that someone may be trying to spy on you using your phone, it is  best not to use it for messages, photos or internet browsing that you would rather they didn't know about.  You may consider getting hold of a second phone or SIM card – a strategy used by many women's rights activists and survivors of violence.  Sometimes women's shelters or support organisations can provide basic phones for this purpose.  If you are able to buy a cheap pay-as-you-go SIM card it is advisable to use cash for purchase and for topping it up with credit, as this makes it much harder to trace back to you.

Photos

If someone is taking intimate photos of you or photos where you are in a place or situation that you would rather keep private, ask them to respect your privacy and not to share it.   Camera phones often record your location when you take photographs, and you can be located via those photographs if found on your phone or if you upload them to Facebook, Twitter or other online networks.  This is a setting that should easily be turned off, check the website http://icanstalku.com/ for details of how to do this on several phone models.

Don't just turn it off

It's not enough to just turn off your cell phone if you are worried about it being activated as a “bug” or a microphone when you are in a private meeting, or to find your location.  Turn off the phone and take out the battery long before you get to a confidential meeting point.  Or, consider leaving your phone in another location.
 

Some tools and other resources available

Tactical tech advice on using mobile phones as securely as possible
https://security.ngoinabox.org/en/chapter-9
http://mobiles.tacticaltech.org/workingwithmobiles

If you have an Android phone there are some useful apps being developed to help you stay secure from the Guardian project, including secure browsing and messaging apps.
https://guardianproject.info/apps/

To learn about how to turn off geotagging for the camera on your smartphone
http://icanstalku.com/