http://social.thewherebusiness.com/content/fidis-urges-mobile-users-be-aware-data-disclosure
Research from Future of Identity in the Information Society (FIDIS) reveals that the information many mobile phone users unknowingly give away on a day-to-day basis can be analysed to create a user profile.
When and how often people travel together or meet up at POIs can indicate whether a relationship is business or social
With privacy issues high on the news agenda than ever, the EU-funded Network of Excellence FIDIS urges users to safeguard their digital identity and privacy, especially when using mobile technologies.
FIDIS's research reveals the staggering amount of information that can be concluded about a person simply by knowing their location via devices such as GPS-enabled mobile phones. FIDIS warns that a user's future job applications, car insurance, and even health insurance could be in jeopardy, depending on what information is given away when signing new contracts and downloading the latest applications.
The team is particularly concerned that, in the wake of Apple's ‘Thanks a Billion' campaign to celebrate the billionth download from the App Store, consumers are still not aware of the potential privacy issues involved with these technologies.
For five years, FIDIS has been investigating the implications of the ‘new era of information disclosure' that is made possible by technology. FIDIS researchers based in the UK, Germany and Belgium, led by Dr Mark Gasson of the University of Reading, were fitted with GPS enabled tracking devices that recorded their every move since March. Having observed the results, the team is concerned that the data does not simply reveal where you have been, but also exposes aspects of you and your private life that you may not realise.
According to FIDIS, the smaller pieces of information gathered via mobile GPS devices - like where you live, when you go to work, how often you socialise and with whom - can be aggregated to create a fuller behavioural and lifestyle profile.
Whilst this information is useful for target ad companies, study participant and researcher Denis Royer from the Chair of Mobile Business & Multilateral Security at Goethe University Frankfurt points out that the behavioural profiling based on GPS data can also produce estimates of how safe a driver you are, your social status, and even the type of shopper you are.
If third parties use this data to build a comprehensive picture of who you are, it could also be used in a way that is detrimental to you - e.g. by car insurers or potential employers.
And it's all because mobile users don't always check the terms and conditions when they're signing a new contract or downloading new software and applications.
"Location information isn't considered sensitive data, and as such it's possible for companies to use it as long as you give consent," says legal researcher and study participant Eleni Kosta from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. "The trouble is that when you're downloading the latest application to your phone that will tell you where the best restaurants or busiest clubs that you may like are based on the type of places you‘ve been before, you may not read the terms and conditions but simply tick the ‘OK' box. This puts you at risk."
"Real-time commercial and social networking services which use location history to better understand the user are coming very soon, and these will offer very real benefits to the user," says Gasson. "However. we can't stress enough the need to be aware of what services you're using on your phone and exactly what further uses of the information you might be consenting to when you agree to use the service. Nobody wants to read the legal text, but it's there to defend your privacy - and while this data isn't yet being used, developments in the mobile technology industry including user customised services, and everything that comes with it, suggest that this isn't far away."
