Your iPhone contains a huge amount of information about who you are and what sort of lifestyle you lead ― but not just in the contents of your apps and photos. Even on its physical surface, your phone contains information that can paint a fairly complete picture of your lifestyle.
Molecular traces “will reveal the types of soaps, lotions, shampoo, make-up, food ― such as vegetarian versus meat-eater or spicy foods ― type of drinks, medications, even materials of clothing one uses,” Dr. Pieter Dorrestein, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the UC San Diego School of Medicine and the study’s lead author, told The Huffington Post. “Because our reference databases and analysis infrastructure, we can right now only annotate 2 percent of the data. But as this knowledge increases, the resolution of lifestyle analysis will also improve.”
This method of sampling could one day be used in a range of real-life scenarios, including airport screening, criminal profiling, and monitoring of medication adherence ― and that’s just the beginning.
Advertisement
For the study, published Nov. 14 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers swabbed the phones and the right hands of 39 healthy adult volunteers in several different locations. Using a technique called mass spectrometry, which measures the characteristics of molecules by converting them to ions, they identified and analyzed molecules from nearly 500 samples.
“We could tell if a person is likely female, uses high-end cosmetics, dyes her hair, drinks coffee, prefers beer over wine, likes spicy food, is being treated for depression."”
Advertisement
This information was used to create a personalized lifestyle profile for each phone, which revealed usage of things like anti-depressants, anti-fungal skin creams, hair-loss treatments, and eye drops. The profiles also picked up things like citrus, caffeine, herbs and spices. Some of the traces were months old, suggesting phones can provide a fairly through lifestyle sketch.
The traces allowed researchers to make extrapolations about a person’s lifestyle, determining things like whether the person has a healthy diet, whether they’re a smoker, and whether they spend a lot of time outside. And, as Dorrestein noted, this is based on only 2 percent of the available data. One day, these profiles could be much more complete.
This type of molecular information is transferred primarily via touch, but also from surfaces upon which you put down your phone, the study’s authors explained. The researchers are extending their investigation to keys, wallets and other personal items to see if they might obtain similar results.
“By analyzing the molecules they’ve left behind on their phones, we could tell if a person is likely female, uses high-end cosmetics, dyes her hair, drinks coffee, prefers beer over wine, likes spicy food, is being treated for depression, wears sunscreen and bug spray ― and therefore likely spends a lot of time outdoors ― all kinds of things,” study author Dr. Amina Bouslimani said in a statement. “This is the kind of information that could help an investigator narrow down the search for an object’s owner.”
Advertisement
With further research, molecular tracing could one day be put to good use in forensics and criminal profiling, Bouslimani suggested.
“With our approach, one can create a profile of the lifestyle of a person to narrow down a subject pool,” Dorrestein said. “Then, other hard evidence such as DNA or fingerprints will need to be linked to the actual person.”
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
It's Another Trump-Biden Showdown — And We Need Your Help
The Future Of Democracy Is At Stake
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
Your Loyalty Means The World To Us
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
The 2024 election is heating up, and women's rights, health care, voting rights, and the very future of democracy are all at stake. Donald Trump will face Joe Biden in the most consequential vote of our time. And HuffPost will be there, covering every twist and turn. America's future hangs in the balance. Would you consider contributing to support our journalism and keep it free for all during this critical season?
HuffPost believes news should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay for it. We rely on readers like you to help fund our work. Any contribution you can make — even as little as $2 — goes directly toward supporting the impactful journalism that we will continue to produce this year. Thank you for being part of our story.
It's official: Donald Trump will face Joe Biden this fall in the presidential election. As we face the most consequential presidential election of our time, HuffPost is committed to bringing you up-to-date, accurate news about the 2024 race. While other outlets have retreated behind paywalls, you can trust our news will stay free.
But we can't do it without your help. Reader funding is one of the key ways we support our newsroom. Would you consider making a donation to help fund our news during this critical time? Your contributions are vital to supporting a free press.
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you'll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.