jedishrfu said:
Its comparable to your instant-on TV as there's always some electronic components drawing power, especially if the on/off switch isn't a physical switch.
Exactly! It uses what is known as a "watchdog timer" which brings the "nearly off" hibernating processor, sipping nano-amps, into life with a pulse that initiates a special boot-up that executes a few instructions to check the charge on a switch-on scheme, (did you press the switch-on button for several seconds?), then does other "housekeeping", and then shuts down again. These instructions are executed in small fractions of a second, followed by the several seconds "down" period. Only a physical "hard" off switch in series with the battery circuit could get past this scheme.
"Housekeeping" can include leaving a stored logged trail of your location, going on to fully switched on, and much other stuff.
There is, of course, no good reason why any entity should have the benefit of your GPS data, not even if you were using a navigation app, but keeping a record of where you were, and when, and mining much other meta-data is the raison-d'etre for most apps, the phone service provider, and even the phone manufacturer!
Every click on the web browser - unless of course, you trash it! There is the facial recognition happening using the forward-facing camera - only defeated by covering the aperture with a bit of adhesive tape. Are your photos your own?
To some extent, one may retain some of the benefits of "more than a simple phone" by trashing the software, which always comes with a set of unwanted, and un-delete-able features, and replacing it with something more trusted, a process known as "rooting".
At least for Android phones, that means open source verified software replacements. These have pretty much all the features one needs, but with the ability to force the surveillance off, and to use a better browser. One Android software known as "CynanogenMod" is now found as LineageOS for those with the nerve, and savvy to carry out the process. Apple and Microsoft driven products are not so replaceable, and so the relationship has to be one of trust.
The motivations are clear when one reads the fine prints in the EULAs. The deal is, unless the various intrusions are "given permission", the app will not run. Whatever the policy is now, the original Facebook agreement allowed the app to turn on the cameras and microphone by itself. I would bet long odds that all sorts phone data may be remotely accessed, whether or not you think it is "off".
For the p-p-p-parrranoid, keeping the phone in a tin box, or in a cover that includes an aluminum foil screen within will effectively make it go silent, but expect the stored trail of meta-data will be transmitted as soon as you next use it!
I have seen reported (BBC news) that the sales of "dumb" phones is now increasing. Maybe a reaction to the high price of smartphones, more are now opting for the "simple phone", but the raw number is dwarfed by the use of fully functional smartphones.
