iPhone has been tracking you dun dun dun

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Siemens
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iPhone has been tracking you dun dun dun

Post by Siemens »

http://gizmodo.com/#!5793925/your-iphon ... youve-been (for the map of course)
This is a map of everywhere I've been for the last months. Everywhere. I didn't carry around a tracking device. The FBI isn't sending goons in unmarked vans to track me. All I did was use an iPhone. And if you have an iPhone, you're being tracked right now, too.

It turns out that 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 using the mapping software that the security experts have made for download—Try it yourself.

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.

For now, there is no fix. The only way to remove it from your computer is to wipe your back up files from your computer. But then you have no back ups to restore your phone in case you lose it. And every time you sync your computer, though, it'll create a new file. And if you do lose your phone, all your tracking data goes with it, right into the hands of whoever found it. And if you upgrade your phone to the next iPhone, the location tracking data goes with it.

Until Apple stops doing this, or explains why they are doing it, I don't feel safe. I feel weird having all this data that I don't want recorded on my iPhone. Maybe they're doing it for the government. Maybe they're doing it because they're forced to. Either way, all we have at this point are conspiracy theories. And a lot of information on our phones about where we've been, whether or not we want it.
Mine would only have 1 dot 8)
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iPhone has been tracking you dun dun dun

Post by ryanrich »

Hmmm so Apple is tracking my location, just like Vodacom, MTN, Cell-C and Google. Difference is that this info is only stored on MY device...

Meh.
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Re: iPhone has been tracking you dun dun dun

Post by Siemens »

Vodacom, MTN, Cell-C and Google are tracking your location?
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Re: iPhone has been tracking you dun dun dun

Post by Bladerunner »

Watch Ol' Steve invent the iTrack device and sell it to the Apple sheeple for a ridiculous amount to turn this to his advantage again.

Sheeple: "Dude, why are you tracking our movement???"
Steve: "Uhm, you were all beta-testers for the new... err... iTrack, yes that's it! As a reward you will now be tracked free of charge, for life."
Sheeple: "Ooooh aaaah..."
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iPhone has been tracking you dun dun dun

Post by ryanrich »

Siemens wrote:Vodacom, MTN, Cell-C and Google are tracking your location?
All cellular providers can see where your device is via cell towers and the info is logged yes. Not actively tracking, but the same thing that is described in this article. I mean, this file is stored on the iPhone and the device it's backed up to. I honestly don't see why it's a big deal, but people are all uppity about privacy concerns nowadays so they jump to conclusions too easily. I'll wait and see what comes of it...
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Re: iPhone has been tracking you dun dun dun

Post by Stuart »

Until Apple stops doing this, or explains why they are doing it, I don't feel safe.
Um . . . paranoid much?
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Re: iPhone has been tracking you dun dun dun

Post by Siemens »

Well the guy does have a point. It is somewhat of a safety hazard if someone finds a way to get access to this kind of data. Especially if it is the location of children who are using iPhone. I mean there is a reason why I don't parade my address on my Facebook account.

Does Vodacom, MTN etc. log your exact position or just the area where you are in?
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Re: iPhone has been tracking you dun dun dun

Post by ryanrich »

Sigh, this is once again being blown out of proportion by the media and the overly paranoid. Perhaps having it unencrypted is a bit daft, but I suspect it will be addressed in the next update after this hoopla...

Seen on another forum.
I figure this thread is as good a place as any to brain dump on this. I went to WWDC last year where the new Core Location system was discussed in great detail. If you went as well, or have the videos, look at the video for session 115, "Using Core Location in iOS". Skip to around 13:45 for the discussion of "Course Cell Positioning" where they discuss the cache in detail.

The purpose of this is offline GPS. Normally, each cell tower has an identifier and Core Location sends that identifier to Apple and asks for the lat/lon for that tower. This requires a data connection, and the use of data. Since cell towers don't move, however, it's inefficient to keep going back to Apple for that information so they cache it. Now if a tower appears with the same ID as the cache, tada! you have a cache hit and a faster fix with no data use. Which also means you can get a "course location" (as in rough) if you are near known towers and don't have a data connection.

That's all this is. It's a cache of identifiers (cell and wifi), locations, and their age (it's a cache, after all). Someone made the decision to never clean it out so they would have more and more information about those GPS "assists" (you know, A-GPS) and so they'd use less and less power and data over time for the places you frequent. It's a great idea, technically.

Practically, yes, you can track location over time. The file is readable only by root and you're free to encrypt your backups for now. I'm sure Apple will either encrypt the file or truncate the data in a future update (I would prefer encryption as I think it's technically sound, but I know many will disagree). I'm also sure someone is considering a toggle for the feature or a button to clear the database. Both are great ideas.

This isn't nefarious, this isn't being sent anywhere, and this isn't as bad as everyone is making it. This is a real feature with a major oversight. That's it.
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Re: iPhone has been tracking you dun dun dun

Post by Siemens »

In that case it's perfectly a-okay for them to track the location of their customers :)
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Re: iPhone has been tracking you dun dun dun

Post by ryanrich »

Siemens wrote:In that case it's perfectly a-okay for them to track the location of their customers :)
Nothing is being "tracked" by Apple. The information is cached on the device and backed up in your iTunes sync. This info is not transmitted back to Apple as is being implied by all the media reports I'm seeing so far.
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Re: iPhone has been tracking you dun dun dun

Post by Siemens »

You are right. =) Nothing to see here folks, move along. No danger here.
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Re: iPhone has been tracking you dun dun dun

Post by IcePick88 »

And so what if this data was sent to Apple? Only people with something to hide would be worried me thinks?

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Re: iPhone has been tracking you dun dun dun

Post by Ron2K »

Siemens wrote:Does Vodacom, MTN etc. log your exact position or just the area where you are in?
I've worked on this kind of tech before in my previous job back in Durban - it approximates based on the known locations of the mobile phone towers that you're getting signal from, and the signal strength of the towers. It can be accurate to around 100 m if you have great reception, or up to 10 km off if you're out in the sticks (one interesting case I noticed was a test we performed by the N3 Estcourt Shell Ultra City - MTN returned the exact co-ordinates of the only tower in the area, which was a good few kilometers away - accurate to 50 m!).

(And while I'm on the subject, a quick rant: MTN has the most horrendous API for performing these lookups. Vodacom was slightly better, and Cell C didn't have an API at all.)
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Re: iPhone has been tracking you dun dun dun

Post by IcePick88 »

Android also has this "feature". Just download a app and voila. It tells you your location based on the cell towers. :D
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Re: iPhone has been tracking you dun dun dun

Post by Siemens »

IcePick88 wrote:Android also has this "feature". Just download a app and voila. It tells you your location based on the cell towers. :D
My Nokia 3310 could do that.
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Re: iPhone has been tracking you dun dun dun

Post by Bladerunner »

No, that showed you the name/location of the closest tower. This shows you a position on a map by triangulating your position. :) Similar but not the same.

I still don't like the idea that the data is being recorded. You should have a choice to not have it saved on your device.

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Re: iPhone has been tracking you dun dun dun

Post by THE_STIG »

Everyone seems to be spying on you these days, I wonder what they do with all that info :shock: . That song by Rockwell "Somebodies watching me" is very true :lol:
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Re: iPhone has been tracking you dun dun dun

Post by Tribble »

I use Foursquare - so this kinda thing doesn't bother me. No one cares where I am anyway.
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Re: iPhone has been tracking you dun dun dun

Post by THE_STIG »

Or do they.....
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Re: iPhone has been tracking you dun dun dun

Post by DeathStrike »

i'm also on 4Square. i also let google track my movements. doesn't bother me.
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Re: iPhone has been tracking you dun dun dun

Post by Tribble »

THE_STIG wrote:Or do they.....
No they don't.

But it is interesting to see who is where you are, when you get there.
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Re: iPhone has been tracking you dun dun dun

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CNET wrote:A lawsuit filed against Apple in Florida last week accuses the company of violating privacy laws, as well as the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, by keeping a log of user locations without offering a way to disable the feature.

The suit, which was first reported by Bloomberg, was filed by Vikram Ajjampur and William Devito, both of whom own Apple products. In the suit, the pair, who seek punitive damages and injunctive relief, cite research from Alasdair Allen and Pete Warden about the tracking files found within iOS as the source for Apple's collection techniques.

"Users of Apple's iPhones and iPads, including Plaintiffs, were unaware of Apple's tracking their locations and did not consent to such tracking," the suit claims. "Apple collects the location information covertly, surreptitiously and in violations of law."

The suit faults Apple specifically for not disclosing that the iOS software records "comprehensive" location data in its iTunes Terms of Service, nor offering end users informed consent of the practice.

"If Apple wanted to track the whereabouts of each of its products' users, it should have obtained specific, particularized informed consent such that Apple consumers across America would not have been shocked and alarmed to learn of Apple's practices in recent days," the suit says.

The suit, which is seeking class action status, aims to have Apple completely disable the feature in the "next-released" version of the operating system. Until that happens, the suit claims Apple is in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, state laws comparable to the Federal Trade Commission Act, and "common law rights in uniform ways" of the plaintiffs and class members.

Apple, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the suit, has not officially commented on the location tracking file since it came to light last week. An alleged e-mail exchange between Apple CEO Steve Jobs and a reader of MacRumors surfaced this morning. In it, Jobs purportedly says, "we don't track anyone," and "the info circulating around is false." Apple has not confirmed or commented on the legitimacy of that correspondence.

In addition, Apple and Google were targeted today by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan over location tracking. Madigan seeks a meeting with executives from both companies, as well as answers to her questions about disclosure and purpose of the tracking, and a way to turn the feature off. Madigan's efforts join those of other politicians and government groups who seek to know more about what the companies are doing with the information.
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Re: iPhone has been tracking you dun dun dun

Post by ryanrich »

This is pretty cool. Here's my location tracking in the Western Cape since I've had my iPhone 4. Also has my trips up to PTA and surrounds. In the app you can zoom in further for a pretty detailed look...

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Stu, if you wanna check it out download and run iPhoneTracker on the Mac that you sync your iPhone with.
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Re: iPhone has been tracking you dun dun dun

Post by Tribble »

Wow you sure get around
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Re: iPhone has been tracking you dun dun dun

Post by Stuart »

Like Apple and Google, Microsoft collects records of the physical locations of customers who use its mobile operating system.

Windows Phone 7, supported by manufacturers including Dell, HTC, LG, Nokia, and Samsung, transmits to Microsoft a miniature data dump including a unique device ID, details about nearby Wi-Fi networks, and the phone's GPS-derived exact latitude and longitude.

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20057 ... z1Kcq6newQ
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