How private is your phone?

Last year 28 year old engineer Karsten Nohl, an encryption expert from Germany was able to crack the G.S.M. algorithm, a code developed in 1988 by the G.S.M. Association an industry group based in London. This algorythm still used today to protect the privacy of many mobile calls worldwide. Mr. Nohl was not only able to crack the code, he actually made it public by sharing it with others via the internet.

For the less technical folks, there are plenty of other options to find on the web. Some pretty stupid I have to admit ("How to Eavesdrop on a Cell Phone" from eHow.com) but some pretty scary. For instance:

The Interceptor AU688: Going for about 1,800 EUR (not cheap) promises to:

• Monitor both cellular A or cellular B system (B system used in Europe)
• Operates both in general monitoring mode and targets specific phone by number
• Identify unknown cellular mobile phone numbers
• Targets 20 mobile numbers for all calls made in or out

It's not that hard for others to listen your private conversations and retrieve data (such as SMS) from your phone.

Luckily some companies have picked up on this growing concern and offer encrypted phones such as the HTC P3470 running windows and modified to offer a more sophisticated encryption.

While most of us are not rock-stars, secret agents, politicians, CEOs, drug dealers or mafia bosses, the idea that someone else could listen to my conversations is a point of concern. I'd like to believe that even though I am not James Bond or Jason Bourne, my conversation still private to some extended. If there is ever some sort of encryption available for the iPhone. I'll be the first one to get it.