Want Security and Privacy? Turn Off Your Mobile Devices' GPS
People with smartphones and tablets may be giving Apple and Android apps they download the permission to capture their geolocation data to know where they are, but security experts are making the strong argument to just say no instead -- and turn off that GPS function unless really needed.
"There's the privacy concern, maybe you don't want billions of people to know where you live," says Alan Brill, senior managing director, Kroll Advisory Solutions, who points out that smartphones with GPS chips today will embed geotagging information into the photo you upload to social-networking sites. It's fairly simple to use EXIF interpreter software that's freely available online to cull that geolocation data out of your photo, Brill says. In fact, this is happening today in military situations where adversaries watch for photos posted by the other side, he adds.
There are implications about GPS for businesses, too, according to Kroll, which recently sent out an advisory to its clientele on the topic. Regulatory agencies around the world, especially in Europe, are starting to consider whether geolocation information should be considered sensitive data. And that means that businesses that collect and store geolocation data as part of marketing campaigns will need to start regarding it as something that they one day may find carries a huge legal burden in the event of a data breach.
