Many times we worry about whether our mobile phone listen to our conversations. It’s curious, because we are concerned about this, for which there is no evidence, but we are not afraid to accept all types of consent regarding our private information. Leaving that aside, according to a team of scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), yes, we should pay a little more attention to the permissions we grant to the use of the device’s lighting, since this could be a future way of spying with the cell phone.
They have demonstrated this by an AI which reproduces what hackers could do. This uses the phone’s automatic lighting as a kind of pattern on the user’s movements. Thus, MIT scientists have even managed to obtain the complete silhouette of the hand.
But that’s not the worst, logically. Tracking movements on the touch screen could be used to obtain essential information. It would be a very specialized form of cell phone spying, but it would have to be in the future. Despite having the most advanced technologies, MIT’s AI has taken a long time to obtain the information, so it would not be enough to collect all the necessary data. Even so, it is a wake-up call to the population, so that they take a good look at which tools on their phone they give permission for automatic use.
Mobile spying through lighting
Generally, if we have given permission for the automatic configurationthe lighting on smartphones adjusts to respond to the ambient light. That is, the screen lights up more or less, depending on the light in the medium.
It does not happen as with the camera or microphone, for whose use the user is always asked for permission. In this case it does not seem necessary, since it would be impossible for lighting to be used as a method of spying with the mobile phone. Or not?
The MIT scientists, after developing their AI, carried out several experiments, which are reported in a study published in Science Advances. First, they placed a mannequin in front of a tablet screen. Then, they placed a cutout in the shape of a hand, or a human hand directly, on the screen, interacting with her.
It was possible to establish a bone scan of these interactions. Therefore, it could be a method of mobile spying.
There is good news
The good news is that MIT’s AI took about 3.3 minutes to recover a single frame. Therefore, it would be very difficult for hackers to save all the user’s movements.
That means that access to much faster devices would be needed for it to really be a sufficiently effective method of mobile spying. We are saved for the moment. But, having demonstrated everything that can be achieved, we should consider deny mobile permissions for automatic use of lighting. It will be much better if we adjust it based on our needs. So, when the hackers are ready, we will be too.