Heads Up

Your Phone Is Spying on You

A shocking discovery by a software systems expert this week revealed just how much data cellular companies are collecting through your phone, launching a new media panic about privacy. Slate's Farhad Manjoo says this is one time you're right to worry. "Between the manufacturer, the carrier, the O.S. maker, and all the other hands that touched your phone, there are more than enough opportunities to add software that overreaches, either benignly or with some malicious purpose." We can't stop them from spying, and it may not hurt anything, but we can at least demand that they disclose it. "There should be a law requiring that phone manufacturers disclose exactly what their handsets are capable of monitoring and where it sends that information."