Let’s assume that you’ve visited Walmart three times in the last week. The first time you bought a couple of steaks, a bottle of wine, some fresh vegetables and a few other household items. On your second visit, it was perhaps a similar shopping list with salmon replacing the steaks, and on the third visit maybe, you bought a few video games for your 11 year old. Further, you decided to have a drink at the bar next door, while your wife shopped for girls-wear.

1. Your data
is being
mined and
sold!

2. Let’s assume that you’ve visited Walmart three times in the last
week. The first time you bought a couple of steaks, a bottle of
wine, some fresh vegetables and a few other household items. On
your second visit, it was perhaps a similar shopping list with
salmon replacing the steaks, and on the third visit maybe, you
bought a few video games for your 11 year old. Further, you
decided to have a drink at the bar next door, while your wife
shopped for girls-wear. Would you be shocked if we told you that
the chances of your activities being filed and stored away on data
servers are today very, very high. If you think that only curious
neighbors and nosy in-laws are interested in what you are doing,
make no mistake, personal data has today become the most
sought-after commodity for marketers. Your life is no more as
private as it once used to be as data mining is on the rise.
This is pretty much thanks to the multiple devices we all
constantly use, especially our pet tablets and smartphones.
Actually, to be precise, it is the GPS and geo-location based data
tracking systems installed on our devices and the apps we trust
and use on a daily basis. Wherever you are and whatever it is
you’re doing, everything is being recorded and accounted; what
you buy, what you eat, where and how often you eat, is all part of
the big data explosion that every marketer is greedily eyeing the
treasure trove of information that this poses. It has gotten so out of
hand that data tracking apps are now being advertised and you are
being encouraged to spy on the people close to you instead of
trusting them.
If you think this is outright creepy, make a start by getting aware
of the invasion your privacy is being subjected to.

3. How?
Your device is being manipulated for data mining
Those pesky ads that keep cropping up on your smartphone every
time you open an app are just one of the ways to get your
information out. Most of these apps are disguised as text
notifications, pop ups and even app icons. These sneaky services
are even capable of changing your browsing settings and
bookmarks, whereby they are able to upload your contact
information to an ad network’s server.
Once your data has been extracted, it is sold off to marketers –
that’s when you get those almost stalker like phone calls and
messages regarding various offers and deal. From then on, it’s a
vicious cycle. These kind of malicious services are more
commonly used in free apps rather than the paid ones. A recent
study conducted by testing 384,000 apps showed that 19,200 used
such malicious ad networks. However, it doesn’t mean paid-for
apps are above board in this matter.
Your trusted apps reek of betrayal!
It is true that most paid apps do not use malicious ad networks or
extract data from your smartphone. They do something even more
repulsive: Track your every move. A study conducted by a couple
of researchers at MIT – Fuming Shih and Frances Zhang, threw up
some shocking facts about some of the most commonly used apps.
People swear by Google Maps but Shih and Zhang’s research
found that Google Maps continues to gather location data even

4. after you have closed the app and even if your device is on idle.
Since Google Maps is revered around the world for its pin-point
accuracy, it becomes even easier to track you. They know where
you are going, what you are doing and at what time of a particular
day. And this is just the start of the list, even the most popular
smartphone game in the world, Angry Birds, is no different.
The list done by these MIT researchers contains a total of 36
applications including text-messaging apps, photography apps and
instant messaging services. They also found that these apps are
capable of tracking everything from location information to
contacts and even your web history.
Data tracking software is hardwired
You would think that they can only track you out in the open but
that is simply not true. Apple uses Skyhook for geo-location
information and this program has the ability to track and profile
every single device that is fitted with this program via Wi-Fi.
While the official Skyhook line is that it cannot recognize or
profile people, however today, where our devices are closer to us
than our own hearts, it could well become capable of doing so any
time. There are about 100 million devices fitted with Skyhook.
They can accurately predict which is the busiest and most
happening location at any given time of the day. Since in the US,
most of the devices have Wi-Fi turned on most of the time, it’s
pretty much a cake walk for them to track and profile you.
Then there is the new service by Navizon called Indoor
Triangulation System or ITS. It lets people track others indoors as
well, which used to be quite hard earlier. The fact is that if
someone knows where you are, they will also know what you are

5. doing and what you have bought. The prolonged tracking leads to
patterns and that’s how you can be profiled and spied upon
without much difficulty.
Why?
It’s all economics
While we are all addicted to free products, free services and just
about anything that comes with the word ‘free’ attached, we need
to realize that there is no such thing as a free lunch. The
developers creating free apps invest huge amounts of capital and
man hours to develop an app. So how do they get returns on that
investment? Easy. They rely on their apps becoming popular and
use them to get personal data from your devices so that it can be
sold to marketers. Once the data is analyzed and a buying/usage
pattern emerges from the data, the marketers know what you do
and what you like. Depending on that, you are sent messages and
calls on products and services they think you might use and buy.
For example, the ITS service provided by Navizon will track you
when you are in a mall or a particular building via Wi-Fi. Yes, it
can even be useful if you want to locate a particular shop and look
for the best deals around but do be aware that you are
compromising your privacy in the bargain.
Data tracking is a legal gray area
One of the reasons that firms use such invasive techniques for
profits is that because they can. There are no black and white legal
guidelines when it comes to online privacy. Cyber laws and digital

6. guidelines are still nascent territory. Online businesses regard
accumulation of personal data as the very backbone of online
advertisement business. The lack of a legal guideline protecting
the customers enables firms to blatantly extract data from devices
using data tracking services and software. Moreover, most firms
do not even disclose the kind of data they are accumulating from
people because the law doesn’t compel them to do so.
What can you do?
There’s not a whole lot you can do, as it is a gray area from a legal
perspective. However, you can definitely increase your levels of
awareness, warn people you know of these practices and raise a
stink via public channels and social media.
First up, you can become aware of how data mining works. The
fact that you are reading this means that now you already have a
fair idea what you are up against. Read blogs by PC World and
the New York Times. Moreover, read books like The Filter
Bubble and Consent of the Networked that help you understand
the loss of privacy in the digital world and how it has made data
mining and tracking so easy.
Second, when it comes to apps, make it a point to read the fine
print. Scrutinize the detailed terms and conditions of the apps you
download. If something feels not quite ‘right’, don’t download the
app at all.
Third, keep your location services switched off at all times when
not in use. If you need to use them, switch them on for that period.
Don’t always take the easy way out – if you want to find a

7. restaurant, search online or ask a friend. Try to avoid the ease of
use app option, until absolutely necessary.
Four, it might also be a good idea to install security software that
tells you when apps go rogue. There are some good apps and
software available that will help protect your smartphone from the
clutches of the data mafia. If you have the iPhone, Lookout is one
of the best options you have. It notifies you every time you access
an unsecured Wi-Fi network or attempt to download a malicious
app. If you are the Android purist, download Whisper Monitor app
which will encrypt your data and prevent apps and other programs
from accessing it. (By the way, even on your MacBook, there’s
Little Snitch that you can use.)
Five, advocacy is the most powerful tool that you can harness.
Most people don’t know anything about the data mining nexus
that exists. Spread the word among friends, family, colleagues and
neighbours. Get together like-minded people and explain what’s
happening. Write to app developers who have created nosy apps.
Get on to social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn and Pinterest to spread awareness of how apps track and
mine data. Write to your local government representative, your
senator, your governor and even the President, if you feel strongly
about this issue. Since no clear and stringent legal guidelines exist
on this issue, the only one who can raise a voice against this
growing menace of data tracking is you.
Of course, this means effort and a lot of research. However,
remember it’s your life and your data and your privacy that is
being breached. Shouldn’t you be concerned?