Wang Jianzhou, CEO of China Mobile, is certainly making some waves at the annual WEF-conference in Davos by explaining in detail how his company is making (mis-)use of the private information his network can obtain from their 300 million mobile phone users. According to AFP:
"We know who you are, but also where you are," said the CEO of China Mobile Communications Corporation, Wang Jianzhou, whose company adds six million new customers to its network each month and is already the biggest mobile group in the world by users.I found his admission that they would not hesitate the available information for commercial purposes. Most upheaval was generated by his admission he would also give that information to the security authorities. That now is hardly news, not for mobile networks in China, nor for those outside China. For those who do not want the authorities to trace their whereabouts - including journalists, not only potential terrorists - it is very clear that the first thing you do is switching off your mobile phone.
He was explaining how the company could use the personal data of its customers to sell advertising and services to them based on knowledge of where they were and what they were doing.
When pressed about the privacy and security implications of this, he added: "We can access the information and see where someone is, but we never give this information away ... only if the security authorities ask for it."
In China it is then very easy to go to your street corner and buy anonimously a new SIM-card, a procedure that would need passports or ID-cards in other parts of the world. It is just very kind of Mr. Wang to warn his customers.
Update: Just got a useful addition. Only changing the SIM-card is not enough, since your mobile sends out a unique ID number. You should also change your mobile then.
2 comments:
When I was researching for my paper in wireless telecommunications way back in 1989, when mobile communications was taking its baby steps, I came across this slogan (I think is from Motorola) -- YOU CAN RUN, BUT YOU CANNOT HIDE.
Basically that is the truth. No matter where you are, if someone is so persistant in looking for you, they can traced YOU by plotting the map of where the signals come from, which cell-site etc. etc. to within a few km (old info. I am sure it is much, much closer these days). AND it can traced the mobile LIVE.
NOW, how much someone REALLY wants to catch you ???
Do you use TomTom -- the aut-navigator? That is mobile technology.
there is some software to crack the number IMEI and so be able to use the mobile phone anonymously. But not everybody know how to do it.
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