8 replies to this topic

[JackSpratts]

Charles Arthur


We know where you've been...

Security researchers have discovered that Apple's iPhone keeps track of where you go – and saves every detail of it to a secret file on the device which is then copied to the owner's computer when the two are synchronised.

The file contains the latitude and longitude of the phone's recorded coordinates along with a timestamp, meaning that anyone who stole the phone or the computer could discover details about the owner's movements using a simple program.

For some phones, there could be almost a year's worth of data stored, as the recording of data seems to have started with Apple's iOS 4 update to the phone's operating system, released in June 2010.

"Apple has made it possible for almost anybody – a jealous spouse, a private detective – with access to your phone or computer to get detailed information about where you've been," said Pete Warden, one of the researchers.

Warden and Allan have set up a web page which answers questions about the file, and created a simple downloadable application to let Apple users check for themselves what location data the phone is retaining. The Guardian has confirmed that 3G-enabled devices including the iPad also retain the data and copy it to the owner's computer.
http://www.guardian....s-privacy-fears

[Project-Buckfast]

Wow, I guess being able to track where the phone is after it has been stolen has something to do with this.

Can't wait to see Apples reply to this one......

[JackSpratts]

Project-Buckfast, on 20 April 2011 - 10:58 AM, said:

Wow, I guess being able to track where the phone is after it has been stolen has something to do with this.

since this story broke today people have been using the researchers' app to examinine the iphone data and so far they haven't found enough specific detail to actually pinpoint and retrieve a stolen phone, so that probably isn't the reason apple is doing this. however it's plenty good enough to show if you're around and generally where you might be.

since this time and locational data is potentially available to any app maker (see the eula) there is a growing realization that a profile of your movements makes it easy for criminals to know when you're away and rob you, or do any number of things that evildoers are capable of when they have that kind of previously secret information about you or your children. strange and unsettling.

- js.

[Project-Buckfast]

It sure is. Especially since I have been an iPhone user for a while. I've been using iOS4 asince it came out.

JackSpratts, on 20 April 2011 - 01:17 PM, said:

Project-Buckfast, on 20 April 2011 - 10:58 AM, said:

Wow, I guess being able to track where the phone is after it has been stolen has something to do with this.

since this story broke today people have been using the researchers' app to examinine the iphone data and so far they haven't found enough specific detail to actually pinpoint and retrieve a stolen phone, so that probably isn't the reason apple is doing this. however it's plenty good enough to show if you're around and generally where you might be.

since this time and locational data is potentially available to any app maker (see the eula) there is a growing realization that a profile of your movements makes it easy for criminals to know when you're away and rob you, or do any number of things that evildoers are capable of when they have that kind of previously secret information about you or your children. strange and unsettling.

- js.

[Pooter]

Cydia - Untrackerd

end of problem.

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[Project-Buckfast]

Likely answer?

Quote

Apple has denied that its iPhones and 3G iPads have been secretly recording their owners' movements.

In a website posting, the company said it had never tracked user location and had no plans to do so in future.

Security researchers claimed to have found a hidden file on the devices containing a record of everywhere they had been.

Some users managed to extract the data and plot it on maps.

More than a week after the issue came to public attention, Apple released an online question and answer document.

It said: "The iPhone is not logging your location. Rather, it's maintaining a database of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers around your current location, some of which may be located more than one hundred miles away from your iPhone, to help your iPhone rapidly and accurately calculate its location when requested."

Planned fix
The document also addresses the fact - as some users discovered - that data going back months and even years was being stored.

"It shouldn't. This is a bug, which we plan to fix shortly," said Apple.

Ian Fogg, principal analyst at Forrester Research, said that the company was being uncharacteristically open about the functioning of its devices.

"I do not think that that the other [makers of mobile operating systems] have been as black and white about what they are doing with location data," he said.

Read More

[FreakinWeasel]

This is the company whose tech allows any of these things (ipod, iphone, ipad) to be tracked with as little as a wifi connection. Skyhook Wireless basically uses a combination of GPS, Cell and WiFi access point mapping to keep track of you. It's cool tech in a big brother sort of way. I will still use Mobile Me to track my kids phones. What do I care if Apple wants to know how many times my kid goes to 7/11 after school. I prefer to know he is walking to rowing or a friends house...

[Pooter]

If iPhone is keeping record of everywhere you go then I need to quit going on the next door neighbor's bushes.

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[vampirechronicles]

Pooter, on 28 April 2011 - 01:58 PM, said:

If iPhone is keeping record of everywhere you go then I need to quit going on the next door neighbor's bushes.

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nice 1
....
well i def keep a record of joo pooter hehe