As Apple issues a spyware warning to iPhone users in 100 countries where they are suspected of being targeted, advice is published about checking if your iPhone is secretly tracking you, and even the potential for your Apple Watch to spy on you, there’s a danger that we might be turning into a nation of paranoid tech users. But as the old saying goes: you’re not paranoid if they really are spying on you. And that, dear reader, appears to be the conclusion of 1 in 4 Americans, according to new research, who have reported that they have actually caught someone spying on their smartphone usage.
Is Someone Spying On Your Phone?
I’m pretty sure that nobody is spying on my phone. Any of my phones, in fact, as I have, erm, four in daily use. One is an iPhone that’s only used as a controller for my spinal cord stimulator pain control implant, then there’s my Android burner, and my business and home use iPhones. All, as you might imagine given what I do, are protected up the wazoo as far as security and privacy matters are concerned. If I’m out and about, I only ever use face or fingerprint to unlock the device in question, and never enter a PIN. Moreover, all my smartphones have a privacy shield screen protector fitted to guard against shoulder surfing. Paranoid much? Maybe, but then perhaps you should be as well.
A research study from NordVPN has revealed that 25% of Americans say that they have caught someone spying on their smartphone usage while on their daily commute. This is, obviously, of concern when the same report suggests that the same number participate in work-related activity on their phone while traveling to and from the workplace. Now throw in the statistic of 72% of Americans saying they travel to work using public transport of some kind, with 42% spending at least an hour on their phone, it should come as no surprise that 19% have followed my lead and employed a privacy-shielding screen protector to mitigate the spying risk.
“If you are accessing sensitive information on public transport, such as mobile banking or entering passwords,” Marijus Briedis, chief technology officer at NordVPN, said, “you are potentially exposing yourself to criminals.” Sure, more often than not, the person is likely bored during their commute and just being nosy by taking a look at your phone over your shoulder, but it does mean that “your activity could be monitored without you even realising it,” Briedis concluded.
