iPhone keeps record of everywhere you go

[Newsjock]

Source: The Guardian

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.

... Only the iPhone records the user's location in this way, say (Pete) Warden and Alasdair Allan, the data scientists who discovered the file and are presenting their findings at the Where 2.0 conference in San Francisco on Wednesday. "Alasdair has looked for similar tracking code in (Google's) Android phones and couldn't find any," said Warden. "We haven't come across any instances of other phone manufacturers doing this."

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/apr/20/iphone-tracking-prompts-privacy-fears

[FiveGoodMen]

1. Figured

[Buzz Clik]

2. It keeps a record of everywhere the iPhone goes.

Leave the damned thing at home every now and then.

Does the Android do this, too?

[cdsilv]

3. no - you can turn the gps/location stuff off....n/t

[Buzz Clik]

7. Good, I've been weighing Droid vs iPhone.

iPhones piss me off royally even without this tracking crap.

Droid it is.

[onehandle]

10. So you're making this decision based on a random comment in a political forum?

I think your mind was already made up.

You can 'turn the gps/location stuff off' on the iPhone too.

If you don't think that Google, the biggest ad seller of all, isn't using data to track all kinds of parts of your life on an Android phone (and sell it to corporations), I have some swamp land to sell you.

[hlthe2b]

12. Exactly... I don't like GPS recording on photos or video...

So I turn that off. I enable it on a case by case basis for those applications that would benefit me, but always with the knowledge I can toggle that off if I change my mind.

Do folks here not realize the GPS systems in their cars are likewise maintaining a record of where they've been? Law enforcement can access and use that as well with a warrant (and I would imagine that a shady private detective or similar, could likewise gain access illegally).

[Buzz Clik]

13. ..

[Lance_Boyle]

17. You can turn it off, but the records remain.

Apple pulled a nasty surprise on its fans with this one.

[hlthe2b]

19. If you do not enable GPS on any app as the default...

(which no Iphone or Android user is likely to do--sort of defeats the entire usefulness factor) then I don't believe you are correct. If you have documentation that the data is CAPTURED and STORED, whether or not any application is enabled to do so, would you please provide this?

I'm not saying it is not a concern. But, again, some here seem oblivious to the fact their auto GPS systems are likewise storing this data.

[jayfish]

28. The location data is not GPS based and cannot be turned off...

or stopped.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2011/04/how-apple-tracks-your-location-without-your-consent-and-why-it-matters.ars

[savalez]

54. You CANNOT turn it off because it's using tower triangulation - not GPS

"The data itself is jarringly accurate. Even though it appears to rely on tower triangulation rather than GPS pinpointing (meaning you're not safe with location services switched off), the map I was able to generate with mapping software the security duo released visualizes my life since the day I bought my iPhone 4"

Source: http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/04/ispy-conspiracy-your-iphone-is-secretly-tracking-everywhere-youve-been.php?ref=fpb

[Rage for Order]

4. Apple and Google are making me yearn for the days when Microsoft was king

Microsoft only wanted your money. Apple and Google want that plus everything else.

[we can do it]

14. Cause Nothing Is As Good As Crap That Doesn't Work And Wastes Your Time

[FLPanhandle]

30. Well, Microsoft would suck at location tracking too...

So, maybe they should be in charge of it. :)

[Rage for Order]

31. I can't remember the last time a Microsoft product didn't work for me

It was prior to Windows XP for sure, but I'm thinking it was before the turn of the century. And Microsoft Office has been stellar as long as I've ever used it, which is since 2000.

:shrug:

[fascisthunter]

35. lol... true

[leveymg]

5. Gee, I guess NSA wouldn't have ANY interest in that data or in where we surf, who we email?

It's all scooped up, I'm sure, and becomes the stuff of a TIA-like mosaic profile that various federal IC agencies maintain about each of us.

Phillip K. Dick had it right - they've built a precrime predictor.

[onehandle]

6. Disclosed by Apple and in the news in 2010. The 'researchers' need to study how to Google.

Used for testing purposes to improve iPhones.

[CoffeeCat]

8. I have never owned a cell phone...

....purely because I don't want to be that reachable. I'm a busy mom, and when I'm at the grocery store or driving
in the car--I want some space just for myself. Weird huh?

I've always felt a bit odd because I don't have a cell phone. Everyone else does. However, the more I read about
cell phones and these side-bar stories about brain cancer and tracking your movements--I'm glad I don't have one!

Because this technology is so pervasive--it can be easily exploited and targeted for nefarious purposes by those
who seem to ignore our right to privacy. They start infringing on our rights, but people will be unwilling to
give up this technology--that has become essential to their daily lives. Then they've got ya.

[hlthe2b]

11. I wish it were so simple... but given the ability to track our email...

and online activity, I wouldn't feel giving up a cell phone to be very reassuring in terms of privacy.

I also have some concerns about health effects especially for the very heavy user that always have it directly at their head. I nearly always use the speaker phone function on the phone or in the car-- or a headphone set that allows me to have the device quite far from my head. Frankly I don't use that much voice function, but rely on it more for email and text on a daily basis. All those steps are believed to ameliorate any risk.

As to having a break from always being "reachable," I share that feeling on occasion. Leaving the phone at home is always an option, though you likewise won't have it for emergencies.

[LisaM]

55. And now there are fewer alternatives for emergencies

A lot of places have taken out their pay phones. They've taken them out at the theatre where I go, at the grocery store, and I'm sure many, many other places.

[Hannah Bell]

15. me neither. +100.

[Donnachaidh]

18. I have to giggle at the level of shrillness whenever anyone says they live without the

latest pacifier.

These toys are another distraction being touted as a *tool*. It's not. It's just another high-priced toy allowing the user to not pay attention to the world around them.

We have one cell, for emergencies. No gps, no web access (I actually know where the good restaurants are) and it doesn't latch on to our income sucking out monthly fees.

And we get along just fine without the cost and the drama. :shrug:

[FLPanhandle]

21. As someone who travels for a living, a smartphone is invaluable

From navigation, to remote email access, to where to eat, to listening to audiobooks, to having your music to exercise with.

I wouldn't be able to give it up unless I gave up traveling

[Donnachaidh]

23. what did you use before the iphone?

Did you just start traveling for work when this toy came out?

[FLPanhandle]

27. Before smartphones it was different

Rental car companies provided maps in the car. They don't anymore as people have their own tools.

I'd actually be at the airport before learning my flight was delayed or cancelled (huge waste of time).

I eat a chain restaurants or pick a place never knowing if I might be next door to a really great local restaurant.

I'd carry a separate device for music while running or do without.

I'd also return to the office and face 100 unread emails.

It wasn't impossible to travel back then, but it's a hell of a lot easier now.

[hlthe2b]

22. Really? Who has responded in a shrill manner?

I see no one responding in such a way. As I stated, i understand both the concerns and the motivation NOT to have a cell phone. You, on the other hand are being very derisive stating that those who own and use one can't "live without the latest pacifier," another "high-priced toy".

Please, tell me who is being shrill here? I understand and respect both POVs (necessary tool versus a hindrance to one's own autonomy and ability to focus fully on other aspects of life) because at various points of time in my life, I feel both almost simultaneously. But, I respect those on both side of the equation.

[Occulus]

38. "Really? Who has responded in a shrill manner?"

The people without these devices. As usual.

[FiveGoodMen]

34. I feel exactly the same way. (And don't have a cell phone, either)

[hlthe2b]

9. So then, if you are going to commit a crime and need an alibi...

Leave it at home? ;)

I think this may be a more intense degree of tracking capability, but I understand that all cell phones can be tracked geographically and based on cell phone towers used during phone calls. Unless you go back to an old analog cell phone (if that is even possible), there will be geo data available. (or unless you leave it at home)

[AndyTiedye]

16. Even Analog Cellphones Can be Tracked by the Towers they Use

[Bragi]

20. Works nicely in tandem with Facebook

Facebook only tells people who you are, who you like and don't like, who you associate with, what causes you support, etc.

This device just fills in the information about where you are and where you go.

Putting the two together gives authorities access to the best surveillance and reporting devices in human history.

Anyone who doesn't use these devices is at best behaving in a suspicious manner. What are they hiding?

[xchrom]

24. This is the post privacy age. It's too late to worry about.

We're going have to re-think this on a macro level if we want to tackle this at all.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

25. "If you're not going anywhere you shouldn't go, then no problem."

:patriot:

[ileus]

26. Wife has a I4 I have the Atrix, both with latitude installed....

It's a hand feature that's 100% pure fun to have....stop being paranoid people.

I turn off the GPS sometimes to save battery power but that's about it. Who doesn't love a good smart phone?

[Gin]

29. I have a prepaid cell with T mobile...that serves my purpose

calls, pics and text when I need to use it.

when AT&T takes over...who knows what my next company will be.

[Occulus]

36. Go Google pen register requests and get back to us.

There is very good reason to be "paranoid", as you put it.

[NYC Liberal]

32. You can easily turn this off. It's right in the settings:

[psychopomp]

37. You are incorrect. Read the thread and you'll find out why

[NYC Liberal]

39. You can easily encrypt the backup file (which people should be

doing anyway) and the problem is solved.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=931186&mesg_id=931873

[plumbob]

33. Might as well have that info, since so many are self-reporting everything

else on Facebook.

I'm so old, I have neither an iPhone nor a Facebook page.


Wow!

[cory777]

40. iPhone keeps record of everywhere you go

Source: Guardian

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.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/apr/20/iphone-tracking-prompts-privacy-fears/print

---

Breaking Activist News http://activistnews.blogspot.com/

[Kablooie]

41. Egads. it's true. It even kept track of my trip to Comicon last summer.

[targetpractice]

42. So do other cell phones, digital cameras, car navigators, etc.

Isn't that why we buy devices with GPS chips? The location-aware information is a feature, right?

Apple iPhones are passing the location information to their owner's computer when they sync their personal apps, calendars, contacts, music, videos, etc... This location info is as secure as everything else the user syncs with their computer... The benefit is that a GPS-less computer or laptop has some location data to work with (for maps, local searches, etc.).

UPON EDIT: I suppose whether or not to sync location information should be optional... like everything else. I'll bet Apple will make it option in short order.

[struggle4progress]

43. Dumb Thief: How to Locate a Stolen iPhone (2010)

... According to San Francisco police, the 31-year-old city resident rode a bicycle up to a woman and snatched an iPhone out of her hands, and then pedaled away.

Problem was, the woman was carrying the phone as part of a company's demonstration of a real-time GPS tracking program. If the bandit would have taken a peek at the screen, he would have seen himself traveling across a map of San Francisco ...

Ten minutes later, he was in police custody ...

Apple has a service called Find My iPhone that will allow iPhone owners to remotely locate their lost or stolen iPhones using the iPhone’s GPS ...

http://www.homesecuritysource.com/blogs/how-to-locate-a-stolen-iphone.aspx


I'm not going to buy one of these gadgets, but there might be some reasons legitimate users want tracking info -- though Apple is probably supplying the info to service providers, as indicated in the article from the OP

[targetpractice]

45. Apple does not share that info...

...according to their EULA (end user license agreement).

And, you are right... The location tracking data comes in handy when trying to find a lost or stolen iPhone.

I'm flummoxed by the outrage... Why buy a GPS device if you don't want it to know your whereabouts?

[krispos42]

47. I don't mind my GPS knowing where I am

I do mind my GPS knowing where and when I was... especially if I didn't know it was recording that information and/or couldn't turn it off.

Coupled with the Michigan State Police illegally using Bluetooth-capable cellphone cracking gadgets, it's a worry. How'd you like to get a bunch of speeding tickets based on stolen GPS data... after you spend the day protesting the Republican governor?

[targetpractice]

49. I understand...

Especially since some courts have recently ruled that data on a cell phone can be viewed without a warrant.

My contention is that Apple is not the first company to use GPS data in this way... Current digital cameras have GPS chips that stamp photos with time and location information. Computer devices have output log files that record user events for decades... It seems reasonable (IMHO) to assume that new devices with GPS chips would log that location information, too.

I've wondered recently how constitutional privacy assumptions apply to today's gadgets... I think that person-to-person direct interaction should be guaranteed private... But, how can we guarantee such privacy when we use devices that digitally transcode our voices and use GPS chips? I've concluded (for my own purposes) that privacy cannot be assumed when using today's digital communication tools (e.g., phones, email, SMS, chat, Facebook, and whatnot).

[krispos42]

50. I don't mind cameras that have geotags

Because they only stamp the lat/long when I snap a picture. And I can turn it off.

In fact, I'll probably be getting one once my tax return comes in!


It's the continual tracking issue that I have an issue with... and I'm boring with nothing to hide!

[bertman]

44. Brave New World.

[PADemD]

46. Only if you take your phone with you.

[enlianykiy]

48. Tunisian border and are

Tunisian border and are home for hundreds of thousands of people, are dangerously cut off from aid and essential basic supplies, threatening a serious humanitarian crisis that has been getting a lot less attention than the situation in the beseiged port city of Misrata.

[PADemD]

53. ?????

We were discussing iPhones.

[dipsydoodle]

51. And its switched on.

I've noticed on my Galaxy S that it marks where photos were taken so maybe all smart phones are doing this. :shrug:

[hobbit709]

52. Another reason not to get another overpriced Apple iPOS.

I carry my cell phone with me when I leave the house but even then it's turned off 90% of the time. Only about 10 people have the number in the first place. when I leave the house, I don't want to be bothered with a bunch of mundane stuff.