The smartphone you use reflects more than just personal taste ... it could determine how closely you can be tracked, too. Privacy expert and TED Fellow Christopher Soghoian details a glaring difference between the encryption used on Apple and Android devices and urges us to pay attention to a growing digital security divide. "If the only people who can protect themselves from the gaze of the government are the rich and powerful, that's a problem," he says. "It's not just a cybersecurity problem -- it's a civil rights problem."

Christopher Soghoian: Your smartphone is a civil rights issue

Your smartphone is a civil rights issue

Luxury of encryption: Wealthier individuals enjoy superior data protection, leaving the vulnerable exposed to surveillance.

Encryption disparity in smartphones creates a civil rights issue, privileging the privacy of affluent users over others.

Lack of default security in Android risks democratic freedom, potentially thwarting civil movements before they flourish.

Follow Christopher Soghoian on Twitter.

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