"E.T. Phone Home"

Have you ever lost your cell phone? Or better yet, has your cell phone ever been stolen? If you answered yes to either of the previous questions, you will never need to worry again.

Thanks to Maverick Mobile Solutions, an Indian company that makes applications for mobile phones, if your phone is lost or stolen, it will now be found. The company's latest application, Maverick Secure Mobile, will secure your phone and help you to locate it. The Maverick Secure Mobile encrypts your personal data, sends you a text message with the location of the phone, and plays a loud siren to annoy the thief who may have picked up your phone.

The Maverick software is hidden on a phone so a potential thief will be unaware of its presence. Upon purchasing the software, users provide the company with a second phone number, that of a friend, a spouse, or a parent, to be alerted in the event that they lose their phone or their phone is stolen. Once the thief removes the stolen phone's SIM card and inserts his own, the phone encrypts all data that remains on the phone, like the user's phone book, photos, text messages, etc. so the thief cannot see them. This data is then forwarded to the second phone the user listed so all of their information will be retained.

By sending text message commands to the missing phone, the owner of the phone will be able to see the phone calls and text messages the thief has sent and received and view any new contacts he entered in the phone book.

Another feature of this application, "Spy Call," enables the owner of the phone to call their phone and listen to the thief's calls, without the thief knowing they are listening. Finally, the user can make the phone sound a blaring siren. Then just when the owner thinks the thief has had enough, the owner can send him a text message with their name, location, and, if they want, a reward for returning the phone.

Maverick has a deal with Nokia to begin distributing the anti-theft application on Nokia phones.

Once again, similiar to the CSI Stick blog entry I wrote two weeks ago, I feel that along with this new technology providing some safety to cell phone users there are some privacy issues with the Maverick Secure Mobile application. The biggest privacy issue to me is that the company suggests the new anti-theft application could be used by parents who want to check up on their kids by eavesdropping on their phone calls and using the siren-playing capabilities. I feel has though this is bound to cause controversy between parents and their children. Besides, if the company is encouraging their customers to spy on their children, what is stopping others from spying on their parents, husbands and wives, friends, etc.?

For more information on this new media topic, please visit http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/12/someone-stole-your-cell-phone-tell-it-to-phone-home/?ref=technology.