George Orwell warned of a future without privacy, where big brother could see and hear everything. New technology, that anyone can buy off the internet makes it possible to hack into a person's cell phone and spy at will.
Like many 20-somethings, Brie always has her cell. Especially now that she's busy networking for a new job.
But what Brie and most of us don't realize is that the very features that make your phone so functional could make you a target.
"If you're going to have a cellphone, you might as well plan on not having privacy as far as I'm concerned," says Michael Peros of Privacy Electronics in Pinellas Park.
Peros says he needs just five or ten minutes with your phone to install the legal software that can steal your privacy and possibly your identity.
The technology is widely available on the internet and ads promote the software as a way to catch a cheating husband, track a teenager's activities, even as a way to spy on your business partner.
When asked if there is any way that the person who has the phone knows that their device has been tampered with, Peros said, "It's very very very hard to identify that. Extremely hard."
Brie, who is also a Call for Action volunteer, agreed to let us install one of these programs on her cell phone to see how it works.
With our phone now able to tap into her conversations, we spent the day following Brie at home, getting some exercise, lunching with friends, and running errands at the store.
And we overheard more than just casual chit chat about the weather. We overheard personal conversations with her mother and her boyfriend.
This spyware makes it very easy on the spy, because every time Brie makes or receives a call, we received a text message alert telling us she was on the line. All we had to do was dial in, and listen in.
And this gets even creepier. At a Tampa restaurant we could listen to Bries conversations even though she wasn't using her phone! It doesn't even have to be turned on.
That's right, even though we were miles away, we could remotely activate the microphone in her cellphone, turning Brie's phone into a bug hidden in plain sight.
The software also allowed us to go to the computer and call up a log of all her calls, who she talked to and for how long, plus all her text messages sent and received, spelled out word for word.
"I think it's very frightening. The real time harm that can happen is unimaginable." says Sgt. David Fleet, the head of Hillsborough County Sheriff's Economic Crimes Section.
Fleet says the technology may be legal to buy or sell, but it's a federal offense to use it without a person's consent.
"Whatever the intention, it's all highly illegal. You can't intercept the conversations of another," Fleet warns.
And as if eavesdropping weren't enough, this cell tapping technology also exploits the GPS feature in most new phones.
While Brie gets some exercise along Bayshore Boulevard, her phone sends out a signal that can be tracked.
The potential for abuse is enormous, as Brie realized during her three days as our volunteer target.
"It's definitely a stalker's dream. Definitely. I mean reading the text messages, pinpointing on GPS where you are. Literally you can not hide."
The good news here is that somebody has to actually gain possession of your phone to install the software, which costs about $300. So the best advice is to never let your phone out of your sight.
The bad news is that there is no way to detect if the software has been installed and it works on all major brands of phones. In fact, Peros says the most advanced smart phones like Blackberries and iPhones are actually the most vulnerable to this kind of hacking.
