Is OnStar turning your car against you? Senator Schumer thinks so. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2011/0926/Is-OnStar-turning-your-car-against-you-Senator- Schumer-thinks-so Senator Schumer of New York criticizes in-vehicle emergency tool OnStar because it collects information about its users even after they cancel the service. It's the latest flareup over whether new technologies are violating users' privacy rights. OnStar, the in-vehicle emergency service, is the latest technology coming under fire from privacy advocates who say it is unfairly conducing surveillance on its users without their permission. Several US senators, led by Charles Schumer (D) of New York, are asking the company to abandon the practice, which he and others say is becoming pervasive. Senator Schumer is also asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate OnStar following the company’s announcement last week that it will continue to track the movement and speed of users even after they cancel the service, which is available by subscription. Apple, Facebook, and Google have also come under fire this year over concerns about unwanted surveillance. The problems are the product of technological advancements that have outpaced privacy regulations, say analysts, with OnStar offering further evidence of how companies can collect data about their customers. ALSO SEE: The 10 weirdest uses for a smartphone OnStar is owned by General Motors and, according to the company, is available in 40 2011 model vehicles. More than 6 million people have the service, the company says. In a letter sent to OnStar's president, Linda Marshall, Schumer called the policy a “brazen invasion,” particularly because the company acknowledges it will maintain a connection with the user’s vehicle even after the user opts out of the service. OnStar’s two-way location technology is marketed for its safety benefits: helping locate roadside services, provide alternate driving instructions, and sending help in case of an emergency. A spokesperson for the service did not respond by deadline to requests via e-mail and phone for comment. Other companies have been criticized for not telling users if and how they collect personal data. For those that do, the warnings are sometimes in small print, critics say. In April, for example, independent researchers said Apple and Google store the location history of iPhone and Android users, respectively. Both companies denied the charge. Privacy advocates say the challenge is that embedding mobile software that protects user data is more costly. Companies failed to prioritize these kinds of protections when web browsers, smart phones, and digital tablets were being designed. That means mitigating the problem after the fact would involve changes far beyond amending user agreements. It would require redesigning the core structure of the technology. “All these amazing new technologies ... were not designed to go the extra mile and work in a privacy friendly way. In fact, it’s often much more convenient to collect more information about where the device is and where it is going than to collect less,” says Peter Eckersley, technology projects director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco. Much of the problem has to do with global-positioning software (GPS) that companies use to create a two- way communication with consumers. On one hand, it helps provide street directions or tell users where they are at any given moment. On the other hand, personal data on shopping habits or browser search history can also be stored without the user’s knowledge. Companies like Facebook argue that tracking these data helps the company tailor the user’s online experience, directing the user to content of interest. But privacy advocates like Mr. Eckersley say companies are really interested in building data banks they can sell or use as leverage in partnerships with outside media partners. “There’s no question that industry views this giant network of surveillance devices as a great commercial opportunity,” he says. The danger, he says, is that the information may “accidentally” be accessed by people – including the government, Internet stalkers, or hackers – who can have more nefarious intentions. Regulation remains far on the horizon. There is no federal law that explicitly inhibits companies from using location tracking of its users. One reason is the speed at which technology is moving, says Chenxi Wang, an analyst with Forrester Research in Foster City, Calif. “The privacy laws and regulations have not caught up with the technology,” she says. But the spread of smartphones and tablets could create pressure for reform. Forrester Research forecasts that one in every three adults in the US will own a tablet by 2015. “Consumers are more aware of the [privacy] issue now, but whether they are turned off by the location tracking still remains to be seen,” says Ms. Wang. For now, consumers concerned about privacy have to opt out of the digital realm or invest in software that blocks data storage. Neither, however, is likely to be a adequate solution, says Eckersley, who says a more realistic answer will come only from within the industry itself. “We need to put pressure on what we want to see regarding privacy regulation. That is going to create better incentives for the industry to do the extra engineering legwork that is required to give us these cool new features based on what we’re doing in a way that doesn’t keep a record of where we were and what we do and what we read,” he says. So, if your iPhone is spying on you, who benefits? http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0422/So-if-your-iPhone-is-spying-on-you-who-benefits Reports that iPhones and Android phones track the owners' movements have revived privacy concerns. The list of who wants the data – from police to marketers – is potentially a long one. News that certain mobile phone manufacturers have embedded technology in their devices that tracks owners' movements has raised alarms among privacy rights advocates even though it has been somewhat of an open secret since last year. The controversy flared up this week when technology bloggers started commenting on a report by two security technology researchers that was presented at a conference in Santa Clara, Calif. Alasdair Allan, a senior research fellow at the University of Exeter, and Pete Warden, founder of Data Science Toolkit, an open-source software website, reported that starting a year ago, when Apple updated its mobile operating system, the iPhone and the 3G version of the iPad started storing user location data. How much do you know about the US Constitution? A quiz. The data are collected whenever the device connects with cell-phone towers or Wi-Fi networks. The collected data becomes vulnerable to hackers if the device is later synced to a computer. “We’re not sure why Apple is gathering this data, but it's clearly intentional,” Mr. Allan and Mr. Warden wrote on their website. Apple has not yet commented publicly on the issue. A call to an Apple spokesperson representing the company’s iPhone division was not returned at press time. Android reportedly collecting data, too It is also becoming clear that concern over the tracking software is not limited to Apple devices. On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Google has also been collecting location data from users of its Android OS system, although on a more limited basis than Apple. Speculation varies about why the manufacturers are allowing their devices to log the users’ physical coordinates. One theory is that advertisers would benefit from knowing what locations users frequent most and in what pattern, in order to target marketing messages their way. Many companies already offer training to computer forensic experts at law enforcement agencies on extracting location data from mobile devices and software, to help them track suspects in criminal cases. One such company, Micro Systemation, located in Solna, Sweden, posted on its website Thursday that “the findings … will come as a surprise to most iPhone users, as their devices do not give any visual indication that such data is being recorded. But they are no surprise to the developers here at [the company] who have been recovering this data … for some considerable time.” The company offers a course on “iPhone Forensics” it says will teach participants “how to recover stored and deleted data.” According to its website, it is targeted to “law enforcement,” “military intelligence operatives,” and “corporate fraud investigators,” among others. Privacy trade-offs The revelation about the phone systems is part of a larger trend regarding mobile devices and privacy, says Catherine Crump, a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union in New York City. “This is not just about Apple,” she says, “it’s about the broader question about how electronic devices have become integrated in our daily lives. That’s fantastic, but at the same time, it’s a new reality for the rest of us who didn’t grow up with them and are struggling to understand what the privacy trade-offs are in using them.” Ms. Crump adds that even though “we’ve all become heavily reliant” on the devices, it is becoming evident they are designed to “collect or share new information in ways that we don’t’ completely understand.” What happens next is likely government scrutiny. Several members of Congress have already sent letters to Apple. Sen. Al Franken (D) of Minnesota wrote that “anyone who gains access to this single file could likely determine the location of a user’s home, the businesses he frequents, the doctors he visits, the schools his children attend, and the trips he has taken.” Consent by users Last July Apple responded to an inquiry from Reps.