The smartphone in your pocket can easily be turned into a high-tech spy tool and counter-surveillance device to rival anything that Ian Fleming’s Q might have dreamt up.

You can communicate secretly, browse the web anonymously, access the Deep Web and hidden networks, view banned content, download privately and continue using Twitter and Facebook if their services are ever blocked locally.

Conversely, mobile devices are not secure unless you make them so. If somebody wants to know where you are at this precise moment, your smartphone will tell them – even if it is turned off.

The push by the commercial world and more recently by law enforcement and surveillance agencies to monitor all we do has led to a counter-revolution. The Mobile Internet has evolved and so has its counter-surveillance tools.

Rather like spies in a James Bond movie, mobile users have an array of digital tools to call upon, both to mask their identity and to provide real confidence that their correspondence, data and contacts are secure.

There are smartphone apps that let you see in the dark or measure the height of a building. You can film and record without being rumbled; send emails, PMs and SMS that cannot be intercepted or read. You can even take over and control many public and private security cameras.

Conrad Jaeger and Alan Pearce have written numerous books on cyber-security and all are available on Amazon.