AN IT professional with more than 13 years of experience has posed a serious question about whether our smartphones are spying on us even when they’re switched off.
In an interview in Lautoka yesterday, Mohammed Nafeez said smartphones had become an inseparable part of our lives, but with convenience came a darker side that many users rarely consider.
“The inbuilt batteries in modern devices, once hailed as an innovation, now raise growing concerns about how they can be misused to invade privacy,” he said.
“Unlike older phones with detachable batteries, today’s sealed units mean that even when a device is ‘switched off’, it may still be quietly active in the background.
“Security experts warn phones with inbuilt batteries can still transmit location data, meaning users’ movements can be tracked in real time.”
He said microphones might be remotely activated, turning personal conversations into potential surveillance material.
“Cameras can also be switched on without the owner ever noticing. In essence, what many consider a private moment away from their devices may still be monitored through the very tool they thought was powered down.”
He said in Fiji’s context, those risks were not distant ‘Hollywood spy’ stories; they mattered deeply.
“With the rise of mobile banking, M-PAiSA transfers, remote learning, and workplace communications, smartphones hold a treasure trove of sensitive information.
“Imagine a journalist in Lautoka investigating corruption, unknowingly tracked; a Suva business executive negotiating a contract, while their phone silently listens, or a Labasa civil servant discussing government matters, vulnerable to surveillance.
“These scenarios show how modern phones, if compromised, can turn into tools of intrusion rather than empowerment.”
