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A lot of smartphone apps can help you out if you let them access your phone's GPS. But even if you give permission, do you know everything they're doing with that information?

Some computer scientists wanted to find out. So they modified the Android mobile phone platform to tag all data apps sent from the phone. Then they randomly¹ selected 30 of the most popular Android apps, choosing only ones that require access to the Internet and access to the phone's GPS, camera or microphone. And they played with them, all while tracking the data each app sent out.

Turns out 15—half the apps—sent the phone's location to third-party advertisers. Two apps did present user agreements—but they said nothing about sending that data. And a third of the apps revealed the phone's unique ID, sometimes along with the phone number and SIM card serial² number. The findings will be presented at an upcoming USENIX Symposium³.

The researchers won't say which apps committed the worst offenses⁴. But there’s a good chance you could have some of the apps on your smartphone. And if one of them asks for your location, you can opt⁵ to have it mind its own business instead of yours.

Thanks for the minute. For Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.

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收听单词发音

1 randomly
adv.随便地，未加计划地
参考例句：
Within the hot gas chamber, molecules are moving randomly in all directions. 在灼热的气体燃烧室内，分子在各个方向上作无规运动。来自辞典例句 Transformed cells are loosely attached, rounded and randomly oriented. 转化细胞则不大贴壁、圆缩并呈杂乱分布。来自辞典例句

2 serial
n.连本影片，连本电视节目；adj.连续的
参考例句：
A new serial is starting on television tonight.今晚电视开播一部新的电视连续剧。 Can you account for the serial failures in our experiment?你能解释我们实验屡屡失败的原因吗？

3 symposium
n.讨论会，专题报告会；专题论文集
参考例句：
What have you learned from the symposium?你参加了这次科学讨论会有什么体会？ The specialists and scholars present at the symposium come from all corners of the country.出席研讨会的专家学者们来自全国各地。

4 offenses
n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势
参考例句：
It's wrong of you to take the child to task for such trifling offenses. 因这类小毛病责备那孩子是你的不对。来自《简明英汉词典》 Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

5 opt
vi.选择，决定做某事
参考例句：
They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。 Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？