Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Your Phone is Spying on You


The world is becoming a scary place to live in. My Android phone peeps into my Gmail. It digs out my flight details, my check-in dates at a hotel, the weather in the city I am in, the weather in the city I am going to and puts all the information on my screen. 

Really. I was amazed to read that my flight was delayed just by looking at my phone. I did not have to click on any link. It automatically scanned my Gmail, checked for the status of my flight and let me know. It also wished me a safe journey.

This GPS location thingie is becoming a nightmare. What if I don’t want anyone to know? My friend went to her mom’s house for two days. She deactivated her Facebook account because she didn’t want her in-laws to know (who, by the way, live in the same city as her parents.) She didn’t want anyone to 'check her in' anywhere at all! 

The day we landed in San Francisco, the Boy bought a new mobile number. He started getting random calls from people asking him where he was! Obviously, it was a mistake. My brain started working in myriad ways. I told him that he checked-in on Facebook at the hotel earlier in the morning. Maybe someone is tracking us and wants to rob us. Overdose of Discovery ID and National Geographic I tell you.

This is not all. The way these devices store and use information can be embarrassing. Now I saw Ye Jawani Hai Deewani in an Islamic country. They did not show ‘the kiss’. How could I miss a Ranbir kiss. So I looked for it on Youtube. A few days later, the Boy was looking for something on Youtube and was amazed to see the suggested videos for me to watch (I was logged on to Youtube while looking for the video). I HAD to disclose the reason lest he thought I watch Mallu porn.

You have to see the suggestions for his id – NewYorkers react to Google Glass, India vs Pakistan 1996, Android 4.3 on Nexus 4. Ah, I am the lech of the house.

Ofcourse it has an upside.  I can never get lost. I can always find water. And I can always turn off my GPS, my internet and everything that makes a phone smart. But what if I forget?

Earlier, if I didn’t want my parents to spy on me, I would just delete Internet Explorer history. Now I have no clue what all to delete! I mean, if I don’t want to be spied on, I will have to Google the whole process. 

Thank God my teenage days are behind me. I pity the kids of today – they have no privacy whatsoever!

This is just timezone that the phone spied on.
I should have taken several other screen shots too!

12 comments:

  1. That was a hilarious stuff but it's a fact the modern devices leave a slimy trail like the snail.

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  2. Seriously the kids of today are in serious trouble!

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    Replies
    1. They think their life is fun with these gadgets, but in reality, it is not so much!

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  3. Thanks for the post. It was very interesting and meaningful.

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  4. Yes.. That's true.. Even I pity the teenagers of today.. Even our chat history is stored in google.. Really no privacy left.. Somehow I just wonder how much should we actually rely or portray our personal stuff on fb and other social networking sites..!! Nice and thoughtful post.. Keep writing..!

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    1. Everyone wants to show off... so there is a lot of info out there. Although we can restrict ourselves, but we don't. It is only bound to increase.
      Thanks for visiting!

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  5. Anonymous8/21/2013

    True that, I guess we have the same hand sets. You just can't be on your own. I went on a break to another city, met my friends and not cousins, was totally quite about the whole affair, but each one of my friends tagged me on fb either at the check in statuses of places we met or in some images. There is nothing like private anymore.

    And the teenage thing, you are so right. Each of their pimples/periods/mood swings become a story of sorts.

    How was your trip btw.

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    1. You should have deactivated your account as well. I see so many people doing that temporarily.
      Trip was awesome. Details will be shared soon. Thankyou for asking!

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  6. Anonymous8/21/2013

    There is an incognito option in most of the browsers nowadays. Use that and it will store no history. It is godsend I tell you!

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    1. I do use that sometimes. But believe me, there are loopholes everywhere ;)

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Your sweetness makes my day. Gentle criticism will be taken in the right spirit too :)