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

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 Smemom87
Source: 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. Gemstone
Source: 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?
Image by CyroA Silva

“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 Yourdon
Source: 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 Dot
Source: 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 White
Source: IPhone Keeps Track of Everywhere you go

“Location is one of the most sensitive elements in anyone’s life.” Simon Davies
Image by Husky
Source: 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.N
Source: 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 DOT
Source: 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 Frisby
Source: 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 TAKA@P.R.S

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

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All images are licensed under the Creative Commons Non-Commercial Share-Alike 3.0 agreement, and sourced from Flikr

The new dangers of the mobile world

by Mark Tremblay

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