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Apple Becomes Big Brother

Apple spies on us.


http://petewarden.github.com/iPhoneTracker/

iPhone 4, Mac OS X (10.6.7)

Posted on Apr 20, 2011 11:23 AM

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31 replies

Apr 20, 2011 12:04 PM in response to privacy

Apple would only be spying on you if this information was sent to them, and there's been absolutely no indication that this has ever been the case. Cellphones and cell systems have kept this sort of information for years, but I don't see anyone getting their dander up over it.


Personally I think this a small issue; the only people would could ever access this information would be someone who stole your iPhone or computer, and at that point that would probably be a lessor worry for you than other issues. But you can comment to Apple on the matter via their feedback page, if you wish:


http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html


Regards.

Apr 20, 2011 12:33 PM in response to varjak paw

Thanks for the link Dave, I just used it. I appreciate your trust of Apple and I hope it's warranted. If the tracking of your movements is never used by Apple or a third party without your consent, fine. But why track your personal movements, not tell you about it, then assume it will never be used? Enjoy your stay in "Airstrip One".

Apr 20, 2011 12:49 PM in response to privacy

The phone company analogy is flawed. Phone companies track details of cell phone calls to manage their networks and do billing. That info is stored behind firewalls, and only released if there's a court order.


This info is stored on the phone and any computer you synch to, and it doesn't do you any good. It also doesn't help Apple serve you any better. So it serves no useful purpose, takes up some disk space, and has to potential to be abused -- it needs to go away.


A victim of domestic violence could have their movements tracked by their abuser. They may have left home without "permission", or gone somewhere they've been told not to go.

If you have a phone for work, or just sometimes synch your own phone to your work computer, your employer could track your movements.

When you travel internationally, and customs takes away your laptop for inspection, in some cases they are copying your hard drive, and they'd have this info.


It's creepy, and entirely unnecessary. I have sent feedback to Apple, too.

Apr 20, 2011 2:05 PM in response to varjak paw

So I loaded up the tracking app to see where I'd been even though I'd switched off location services and low and behold it shows exactly where I've been AND the "person" who had the phone before me. Yes, I sent mine in for repair and received a "new" unit and it shows the locations the previous "person" has been, by the way I haven't been to these locations with this phone and the concentration of these places aren't random "noise". So send an iphone in for repair and they can see where you've been.


So anyone could "borrow" your phone without you knowing, sync it and know where you've been!!! Disgusted, barely describes how I feel.


This is going to be one of the biggest issues in the history of Apple.

Apr 20, 2011 2:21 PM in response to spiffing

Think that's bad?


This device is configured to read over 3000 cell phone models, bypassing the password and encryption.


http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/34/3458.asp




The flash/ssd drives are not being erased neither, despite what you do in software


http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/02/17/1911217/Confidential-Data-Not-Safe-O n-Solid-State-Disks


http://www.boingboing.net/2010/02/17/school-used-student.html

Apr 20, 2011 4:07 PM in response to DavidK2010

It's not good that Apple has not said anywhere that the phone is logging this information.

I'm not too happy with this kind of data being able to be used to track me.

And the worst thing is that it is taking apace on my iPhone! I need all the space I can get. 😁


But, and there are more then a few buts...

  • I tried it and it was wildly inaccurate.
  • My iphone archive is encrypted (which is recommended by Apple) so no-one could easily get the information; I had to temporarily unencrypt it see the data.
  • This data is in no way sent to Apple or anyone else at the moment.
  • This kind of data is already being logged by cellphone companies anyway.
  • This kind of data would really help if you are having troubles with connections; Apple can instantly see if it is a network issue or a phone hardware issue.
  • And it was kind of cool to see where I had been; I was actually sad to see it wasn't accurate at all.

Apr 20, 2011 5:57 PM in response to privacy

Anything is trackable these days. Anything that has to do with technology. Email, social networks, the internet, cell phones, walkie-talkies and so on. There is a reason why certain individuals share a single email account and communicate by writing messages and saving them as Drafts. Nothing sent = nothing traced. Privacy is the price we all have to pay for many of the things we take for granted, mainly our security and freedom. Why do you think certain organizations from the middle east cannot be traced? They use no technology to communicate with each other.

Apple Becomes Big Brother

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