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Posted on 04/20/2011 8:52:34 AM PDT by rivercat
Your iPhone is keeping a record of everywhere you've been since June. This data is stored on your phone (or iPad) and computer, easily available to anyone who gets their hands on it. Why? Apple won't say. We're creeped out.
The enormous privacy startle, apparently enabled by this summer's iOS 4 release, was discovered by two security researchers, one of whom claims he was an Apple employee for five years. They're equally puzzled and disturbed by the location collection: "By passively logging your location without your permission, Apple have made it possible for anyone from a jealous spouse to a private investigator to get a detailed picture of your movements," they explain. All it would take to crack the information out of your iOS device is an easy jailbreak. On your computer, the information can be opened as easily as JPEG.
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 in July. Everywhere I've been. Bus trips home. Train trips to visit family. Vacations. Places I'd forgotten I'd even gone. Zoom in on that giant blotch over New York, and you can see my travels, block by block. My entire personal and professional life—documented by a phone I didn't know was also a tracking device. It's all accessible—where I've been, and when. I don't want this information bouncing around in my pocket with me. Do you?
ping
I’m not seeing a connection between your post and the actual posted article.
Am I missing something, or did you post on the wrong thread?
The poster was responding to another post quoting something written by Winston Churchill. As a Churchill fan I cought this right off. I’ve had Churchill quotes on my profile page here for years. I consider Winston Churchill one of the greatest minds of the modern age. He was truly a gifted person. Churchill was the real deal. Unlike the boneheaded moron that is currently in MY oval office right now.
“Twenty-seven years later - Apple is Big Brother.”
No problem Apple is the liberal dream company, owned and controlled by liberals.
We know that only evil conservatives would do something evil with that data.
Of course, we are safe with Google and Face Book. (total sarcasm)
guess if one is going to do something nefarious they should leave their phone at home.
Everytime your cel phone turns on it leaves a ‘breadcrumb’ in a location database (in the ‘cloud’, not just your phone) related to what cel phone tower you are getting a channel from. If you move and connect to other towers, another ‘breadcrumb’ is created. This is true whether you have an old school Motorola phone or an HTC Android, or an Apple iOS device.
You can’t make or receive calls unless you are part of the home and/or visiting location record database(S).
Sorry.
That is native to how cel hone networks function.
Not sure how persistent those data are, but they are part of the continual handshakes that occur between a phone or smart phone and the networks.
Rush is talking about this now. I don’t have or want an iPhone for any reason.
Rush is talking about this now...
Oh really. lol
Yesterday I was driving home with my daughter who does have a iPhone. So she starts up some app that gives her traffic reports. This was around 4PM heading north on I95 toward Baltimore. Traffic was slow. Should I switch to the Baltimore-Washington Parkway? Which Tunnel should I take? My daughter is giving me reports. So I asked, "How do they get these reports? How do we know it wasn't from some guy flying in a helicopter at lunch time?
I found out. I think. The thing was so d*mn accurate almost to the foot where traffic started to begin moving at normal speed. The only way they could possibly do this is by taking position signals from all the iPhones and seeing how fast they are moving. I think.
ML/NJ
BOL on the reality and cost savings of what you posted:
“Haha I write Iphone apps, but I carry a dumbed down trackfone.. I just can’t beat $40 for 400 minutes when I use about 10 minutes (maybe) a week...”
We have a Moto Tracfone that is quiet old, and due to the carryover of unused minutes, we now have over 2800 minutes on the phone.
It takes pictures, sends them and works in most places the expensive services work. One of our younger relatives was visiting here and had a conference phone he need to join. His Blackberry/Verizon didn’t work in this area. I handed him my el cheapo Moto Tracfone and he was able to participate in our home with the conference call.
A female relative with her beloved I Phone couldn’t make phone calls from a local beach. I took a picture her and the beach on my el cheapo and sent the picture in a text message. She laughed and said it didn’t work. I told her to wait until she got back where her I Phone worked and check her messages. When she did, my text/photo was waiting for her.
She pays more per month for her AT&T connection, than we do for 400 minutes.
Well, there’s a good reason to track recent locations in the phone — the “where’s my phone” feature that lets you find where your phone got to if/when it gets lost. No idea what justification exists for keeping anything more than recent locations, though.
Thanks for this. Now, we/I know how our younger relatives know how the traffic is going or not going with their I phones.
“I found out. I think. The thing was so d*mn accurate almost to the foot where traffic started to begin moving at normal speed. The only way they could possibly do this is by taking position signals from all the iPhones and seeing how fast they are moving. I think.”
downloaded it, (its a zip file)
but there are no instructions on how to open or install it.
found an index.html file, but it just loads a world map... nothing else.
How is one supposed to use this once they download it?
True, but with GPS, they know exactly where you are and not just what tower area you are in..
My best buddy in that department is an antique from Virgin Mobile that has been through more crap than Ed Norton, and still does everything its maker intended. Which does not include GPS or even photography. It has survived being splattered on the highway, and a full cycle in the laundry. It is likely immortal. Cost: $7. per month.
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