Smartphone Security for Everyone

Speech in conjunction with the “Out of Control” Exhibition
Smartphone Security for Everyone
Thursday, July 12, 2012 / 6:30 PM / Ars Electronica Center

(Linz, July 9, 2012) Smartphones are flooding the market and so are application programs that run on them. But these so-called apps aren’t just a great source of help for such tasks as getting a local weather forecast, navigating strange neighborhoods or translating an exotic menu. They’re also an excellent way to spy on the smartphone’s user. On July 12, Prof. Robert Kolmhofer of the Department of Secure Information Systems at the Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences’ Hagenberg Campus will demonstrate how apps deal with users’ personal data and how to protect them from unauthorized access.

The “Out of Control” Exhibition

Whoever would like to learn more about privacy and the internet can get a detailed update in the “Out of Control – What the Internet Knows about You” exhibition. You’ll find out what’s being gathered in conjunction with telecommunications data retention, what info online services like Facebook and Google are harvesting unbeknownst to their users, and what you can do to better protect your privacy. A series of installations show how easy it is to falsify information or communications on the internet and, for instance, how you can inadvertently end up as a pretty face on a dodgy dating site.

pdf press release “Smartphone Security for Everyone”

Photo:

Twistori / Martin Hieslmair / Printversion / Album