All mobile phone owners should know that they're carrying a microphone, a camera, a tracking device and an automatic logging tool that records their electronic interactions with other people, as well as other activities. And they should know that these devices can convey that information without their knowledge.

Are you being watched, tracked and hacked right now? Probably not. But it's impossible to know for sure. In fact, the only way to be 100% sure that you're not being spied on by your phone is to get rid of it. In the meantime, watch a few episodes of Person of Interest. It's a great show, and it could give you a healthy dose of paranoia about what your mobile phone is theoretically capable of.

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in Computerworld's Smartphones Topic Center.