Is there a smart phone that doesn't track users?

Originally published 04/25/2011 at lubbockonline.com

Declan Mcullagh of CNET reports that Android also collects user data. This is similar to the complaint against Apple's iPhone and iPad last week. Google claims there is no user identifying data sent, but that isn't true, strictly speaking.

The article quotes Sammy Kamkar, a well known security researcher, as saying, ""It's not tied to a user, but it is a unique identifier to that phone that never changes unless you do a factory reset."

But it's worse than that. It may be impossible to truly anonymize data and have it retain it's usefulness for marketing purposes. AOL learned this. Netflix learned this. It's time we learned it. Police routinely request cell phone tracking data from providers, often without a warrant, and the Justice Department is pushing Congress to make it the law of the land that cell phone data can be searched without a warrant. Even if the data from cell providers is anonymized, current technology is more than adequate to allow clever people to attach a name, number and address to the anonymous data. According to Markus Ullman and Marco Gruteser all that may be necessary to identify a person is their location data:

Unfortunately, anonymous location samples do not fully solve the privacy problem. An adversary could link multiple samples (i.e., follow the footsteps) to accumulate path information and eventually identify a user.

No company should be able to just gather data on our whereabouts, our likes and dislikes, our political or any other preferences without our informed permission. But until we force them to stop, they won't. It's in their best interest to gather and use any information they can, either to sell or to use to tailor their offerings to us.

Intel completes Light Peak. Verizon to offer unlimited iPhone data plan?

Intel completes Light Peak

According to Electronista.com Intel has completed work on it's Light Peak technology. Light Peak is ultimately an optical communications protocol, but to bring it to market faster the initial offering uses copper cables. It currently has a top transfer rate of 10Gb/s, which according to Intel will transfer a full Blu-Ray movie in under 30 seconds. When the fiber optic version is released it will have a top speed of 100Gb/s, which I suppose means it will transfer 10 Blu-Ray movies in 30 seconds. I'm sure the MPAA will be thrilled when they hear about it.

But the high bandwidth offered by Light Peak may not be it's most interesting feature. Light Peak is a multiple protocol technology. What that means is that with one Light Peak port you can support multiple data transfer technologies. For example, after Light Peak becomes available you may be able to buy a multi-protocol hub that has USB, Firewire, SCSI, PS/2 and maybe other ports, connect it to a Light Peak port and connect all of your peripherals to the one port. The idea is to reduce the number and type of ports necessary on the computer. If you like computers with small form factors like netbooks, you can understand the need for such a port.

Verizon may offer unlimited data plan for iPhone

According to the Wall Street Journal, Verizon will be offering an unlimited data plan for the iPhone - if the rumors are true and a Verizon iPhone will be announced later this month. If they can support the added demand of millions of iPhones, that will be a major feather in Verizon's hat - and a major reason for people to move from AT&T to Verizon.

Verizon iPhone pretty definite in 2011; another iPhone alarm fail

iPhone on Verizon soon

If reports on Pocketnow.com are drawing the correct conclusions Apple should be announcing a Verizon iPhone soon. Apparently there are accessories availble for Verizon iPhones, and Verizon is buying iPhone related domains like "iPhoneVerizon.com" among others. Apple exclusive contract with AT&T ended in 2010, so there's nothing to keep Apple from making deals with other carriers - and if they want tocontinue to grow and remain a power in the smartphone market, they need other carriers. So there will probably be an announcement in January with phones available March or April. Or they may make a low end iPhone available immediately with higher end phones later. They may make high and low end available immediately, it's just not the way Apple usually does these things.

Another iPhone Alarm fail

It's over now, but for the first two days of January 2011 if you set a one time alarm on your iPhone it wouldn't go off. No word on what caused the problem, only that it would fix itself January 3rd. So if you missed something important because the alarm you set in your iPhone didn't go off, it won't happen again. Really.

Apple selling iPad through Verizon

Apple has announced that the iPad will available from both AT&T and Verizon stores on October 28th. The AT&T offering will be the standard selection, but Verison will only offer the iPad Wi-fi bundled with Verizons MiFi hotspot:

Verizon Wireless will offer three bundles, all featuring an iPad Wi-Fi model and a Verizon MiFi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot, for a suggested retail price of $629.99 for iPad Wi-Fi 16GB + MiFi, $729.99 for iPad Wi-Fi 32GB + MiFi and $829.99 for iPad Wi-Fi 64GB + MiFi. Verizon Wireless is offering a monthly access plan to iPad customers of up to 1GB of data for just $20 a month. In addition, Verizon Wireless will also offer all three iPad Wi-Fi models on a stand-alone basis.

“This is the perfect pairing for holiday travels,” said John Stratton, chief operating officer for Verizon Wireless. “iPad together with the nation’s largest and most reliable 3G data network allows customers to easily connect on the go wherever they are.”

This is a little more expensive than just getting a 3G iPad from AT&T, but it's not a bad deal, if you are planning on travelling with more than just your iPad. The Mifi 2200 hotspot allows you to connect multiple devices the Verizons 3G network usign Wi-Fi:

MiFi 2200 is small enough to fit in a pocket and allows customers to create a personal Wi-Fi cloud capable of sharing the high-speed Internet connectivity of the Verizon Wireless 3G Mobile Broadband network with up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices. The MiFi 2200’s rechargeable battery provides up to four hours of active use and 40 hours of standby time on a single charge.

Verizon's 3G network is larger than AT&T's, so if you want an iPad that is useable in as many places as possible, and want to be able to connect multiple devices to the web anywhere you can use a Verizon phone, this bundle may be just what you're looking for.

 

Apple is pushing the iPad far and wide. Now it is available from the two largest cell phone providers, Target, Amazon, Wal-Mart, and Sam's Club. I'm beginning to wonder if the next iPhone announcement won't be it's availability on more than just AT&T and Verizon. It seems unlikely, but I have to wonder.

Accept credit cards on your mobile device.

In his NYT column yesterday, David Pogue reviewed the offering of a company called Square. Their product is a sweet software/hardware combo that allows anyone to accept credit card payments on their iPod, iPhone, Ipad, or Android phone. And do it at a reasonable cost.

I have to admit that I haven't paid any attention to processing credit cards on your cell phone. This looks like a cool idea, but apparently it's not the only option out there - although it may be the most palatable for some. In the comments to the article the reaction seems about even between the "This is great!" and the "This is a waste" crowds. There are a couple of people concerned about fraud, but I don't think the risks any worse than anything we already face on a daily basis. No worse than giving your credit card to the waitress at your favorite restaurant, anyway - and probably not as bad.

Square makes it possible to accept credit cards at your garage sale, or your booth at the local trade days, flea market, or for services you provide. It makes it possible to accept credit cards even if you only need to once or twice a year. And it makes it possible without having to have a merchant account or a paypal account, which is a big plus to some. Will it take off? I think it has a good chance, but only time will tell.

S.N.A.P. the Social network privacy app for iPhone and iPod Touch

Bit Systems has created S.N.A.P. the Social Network Analyzer for Privacy. It's something like reclaimprivacy.org, but for your phone. It analyzes your privacy settings on Facebook and lets you know how public you're really being. The app is free from the iTunes App store, so if you have iOS 4, download it, go to Facebook and check your privacy settings. See how you're doing and how much you're revealing about yourself to the world.