Let’s Talk; what is your smartphone?

The innovation of smartphones has been one of the most impact on our lives as it redefined portability. Portable devices were not a new thing but smartphones as “pocketable” computing devices changed how we interact with technology.

Going back to when smartphones were intended to be phones, they were merely an extension of human voice – that is to allow us to communicate with others easily and at our own convenience

What is a smartphone?

But, what is a smartphone today? Who calls other people? Calling became almost obsolete if we were to compare the time spent on other functions on our smartphones with time spent calling.

Our smartphones became intimate devices that store our most sensitive data such as photos, videos, applications, interaction with the applications, music choices, likes and dislikes (social media), etc.

2FA, second factor authentication came out as a way to secure your online credentials using your phone – you get an SMS or download an app that generates limitless number of codes to keep your online identity safe.

Beyond just a device

With the above and other things that make your smartphone more intimate than what a phone should be, one can argue that smartphones extend our own identity. One’s identity is on their smartphone and can be studied through the choices they make, what music do you listen to, what apps do you use, where do you spend your time, what time you like to eat, a million more examples.

The risks of such idea is DATA. Data is the most valuable asset. If we think how the value of fiat currencies or cryptocurrencies or gold, etc, is assigned, they don’t inherit value just being of specific type, but their values are assigned by society (supply and demand) and international events/views, and scarcity. Why don’t we value our data and identities as much as the constructs of money?

We need to stop for a minute and realize what data is and what it means. My data alone is nothing and your data alone doesn’t do much, but when billions of people’s data is out there for researchers to create categories of human traits and typologies that basically represent groups of people that are similar, we are not only victims of advertisements and consumerism, but also propaganda and manufacturing consent.

Enhancing user experience on Google search engine is showing you similar searches based on your history which is great, but doesn’t that enforce the echochamber effect and make us stand on one side of issues and stop considering the other side. Google is not the only data broker, but almost completely everything now is a data broker.

Even games now use cookies and collect data about you and behavior, some games or apps even go beyond and collect data how many times you look at your phone and how long you spend doing one thing or the other, so on and so forth. How ethical is that?

Protect your online identity

Would you agree to a policy that explicitly says “we will study you day and night and nonstop as if you were some object”? I believe no. However, we all agreed to such policies and that’s how we get free products. Another problem lies in the fact that we do not have a lot of alternatives. Is there a paid version of Facebook for those who want their information safe? Is there a paid internet browser that does not need to trade your data for profit to run?

My phone is my identity – data on my phone represent who I am. Limit access to apps and games on your phone, not every app should know your location and not every game should have access to your microphone or camera. Look after your online identity the same way you look after your real identity, we live in the digital age. You most likely won’t willingly share intimate things about yourself if you were asked face to face, so look what apps and games ask you to share before you agree to their policies.