Infographic: Do You Care About Privacy on Your Cell Phone?

When it was recently revealed that Apple's iPhones could be tracking your every move, storing within their thin shells massive amounts of data about where you go, who you talk to and what you say, consumers seemed instantly more concerned with the security of their private information than ever before. Our smartphones are attached to us at all times; it can be hard not to think of them as anything but an extension of our person. But that thing you're carrying around, that thing you tell all of your secrets to, isn't an extension of your self. It was created by someone else, it relies on applications built by third-party developers and it transits information wirelessly through carrier networks operated by even more corporations -- and all of them have access to some of your data.

This infographic, designed by Lookout Mobile Security and examining consumer behaviors when it comes to smartphone use, presents a bit of a contradiction. Those surveyed by the sources for this graphic claim to be concerned about their privacy, but they rarely bother taking the necessary steps to protect it. It sheds "light on the mentality of letting privacy slip for the sake of convenience," according to Technology Spectator's Alexander Liddington-Cox.

Infographics are always a bit of a hodgepodge of statistics culled from a variety of sources. Here, we sort through the clutter and pull out some of our favorite facts and figures:

• Thirty-four percent of smartphone users say that they are willing to exchange chocolate for Internet usage on their mobile phone. Forty-three percent would sacrifice drinking beer and 20 percent are willing to give up cable TV.
• Today, smartphones have the ability to know your contact information, location, pictures, text messages, where you like to eat, websites you visited, what games you like to play, who your friends are and much more.
• Ninety-seven percent of smartphone users agree that privacy is a top concern on the mobile phone, as is knowing what type of information is collected and the ability to control what is shared.
• Ninety-nine percent of people think that privacy is important, but only 52 percent of smartphone users have read the privacy policy of a mobile application.
• Only 25 percent of smartphone users agree that their mobile app store only makes available apps that safeguard their privacy.
• Only 35 percent of smartphone users feel confident that most mobile apps protect the privacy of their information
• Forty-two percent of smartphone users neither agree nor disagree that mobile apps protect the privacy of their information.

Check out more Infographics on the Technology Channel.