SafeUM
Home Blog Services Download Help About Recharge

Axarhöfði 14, 110 Reykjavik, Iceland

Iceland - 2015
SafeUM
Blog
Services
Download
Help
About
Recharge
Menu
Archive
TOP Security!
8 Dec 2017

Apps can track users even when GPS is turned off

Princeton researchers have developed a proof-of-concept app that can be used to reliably track users even if an app does not access a phone's GPS data, and the user has purposely turned off GPS services.

Researchers say this is possible because modern phones come with a large number of accurate sensors that track a wealth of data that could be corroborated with external sources —such as elevation maps and weather data— and reconstruct a user's movements.

To prove such an attack was possible, the Princeton research team created an app called PinMe that they installed on the phones of three test subjects, using phones such as Galaxy S4 i9500, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6S. The app was able to reconstruct the test subjects' movements without accessing their phone's GPS data. For starters, the app collected the user's IP address and WiFi connection information and checked it against public databases of WiFi networks to determine an approximate location of the users' phone at regular intervals.

It then used data from gyroscopes, accelerometers, and altitude sensors to track how fast the person was moving, the direction of travel, when the subject stopped, and the current altitude. The app then aggregated all this data and used a pre-trained algorithm to determine the user's mode of travel, such as walking, driving, train travel, or flying.

PinMe app uses public data to detect user's location

Once the PinMe app determined the user's initial location and mode of travel, it used publicly accessible maps to draw a user's route. For example, PinMe used the OpenStreetMap public navigational maps and elevation maps from Google and the US Geological Survey.

Furthermore, PinMe also used temperature, humidity, and air pressure sensor readings and compared this info with reports from The Weather Channel in order to verify and reinforce previous findings.

The Princeton team says the app successfully detected when one of their test subjects flew from Philadelphia to Dallas, by both reading elevation and acceleration data, but also timezone settings in the phone's clock, weather settings in the two airports, and by matching the presumed flight timeline with public airplane flight timetables.

Researchers also admit that the app isn't perfect. For example, if the user installs Tor on his mobile device, the PinMe app can't pin a user's geographical location with enough accuracy. In addition, the app has problems with uniform no-elevation grid-like street formats, like the ones in Manhattan, and can also become inaccurate if the public records it mines are contaminated with corrupt data.

System could be used as a backup GPS network

According to researchers, the purpose of their work was to show the dangers of users not having control over their phones' sensors.

In the future, researchers hope that smartphone OS makers take into account their research and introduce "on/off" switches for sensors that would allow users to prevent apps from accessing the information they collect, similar with the permissions system that prevents apps from accessing GPS information today.

Further, researchers also argue that the principles behind their work can also be used to create an alternative to the modern-day GPS-based navigational system that would work as a backup in modern cars, ships, and other modes of transportation if the primary GPS system would ever go down.

Tags:
surveillance information leaks
Source:
BleepingComputer
1686
Other NEWS
3 Jul 2020 safeum news imgage An encrypted messaging service has been infiltrated by police
4 May 2020 safeum news imgage Two-Factor Authentication ​What Is It and Why You Should Use It
12 Dec 2019 safeum news imgage Encryption is under threat - this is how it affects you
4 Nov 2019 safeum news imgage Should Big Decisions Be Based on Data or Your Intuition?
7 Jun 2018 safeum news imgage VPNFilter malware infecting 500,000 devices is worse than we thought
4 Jun 2018 safeum news imgage Hackers target Booking.com in criminal bid to steal hundreds of thousands from customers
1 Jun 2018 safeum news imgage Operator of World's Top Internet Hub Sues German Spy Agency
30 May 2018 safeum news imgage US says North Korea behind malware attacks
29 May 2018 safeum news imgage Facebook and Google targeted as first GDPR complaints filed
25 May 2018 safeum news imgage A new reason to not buy these cheap Android devices
24 May 2018 safeum news imgage Flaws in smart pet devices, apps could come back to bite owners
23 May 2018 safeum news imgage Google sued for 'clandestine tracking' of 4.4m UK iPhone users' browsing data
21 May 2018 safeum news imgage LocationSmart reportedly leaked phone location data onto the web
18 May 2018 safeum news imgage The SEC created its own scammy ICO to teach investors a lesson
17 May 2018 safeum news imgage Thieves suck millions out of Mexican banks in transfer heist
All news
SafeUM
Confidential Terms of Use Our technologies Company
Follow us
Download
SafeUM © Safe Universal Messenger

Axarhöfði 14,
110 Reykjavik, Iceland

Iceland - 2015