There were a lot of stories last week about the data Apple is collecting from on your iPhone, iPad and/or iTouch’s products, which apparently track where you go, where you have been and then keeps a file with that information on your device for at least 10 months.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the products collect and store location information even when location services are turned off.
So even if you keep clicking”no” on the phone whenever it prompts you to use your location, the phone is still collecting the information, reporting it to Apple and storing it on the device.
Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass. called for a formal congressional investigation of Apple over the weekend.
Of course since most people have there phone with them all the time, its the iPhone’s location collection and storage that has gotten the most concern.
So do you think having a data file with a year’s worth of your location information stored on your iPhone is a security risk?
Police could subpoena your iPhone’s and grab the location database to see where you were at any given point and time for almost a year.
Let’s say the police suspect you of a crime that was committed at 2am on March 1st.
If they could subpoena your iPhone, look into this file they would pretty much know where you were at that time.
Could your wife in a divorce or child custody hearing subpoena your iPhone to see where you were when you had custody of the kids?
How about a stalker type that steals your iPhone just to gather your movement history?
These are just some of the ramifications of your phone tracking and recording where you have been.
So what do you think, big deal or no big deal?
Will this revelation cause you to give up your iPhone or iPad or stop you from getting one?
For the record Google says that its android devices only collect location info if you opt in.
just Big Brother
Here is Cnet.com story on it
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20056344-281.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&tag=nl.e703
If i was really that paranoid then I would’ve gotten Blackberry.
On the flip side, it could be an alibi if you don’t engage in wrong-doing.
“just Big Brother”
He’s watching 🙂 , well I guess its slighlty better than chipping us like a dog 😉
The WSJ is reporting that Apple said it is planning a software fix to stop storing such data even when location services are turned off.
In a press release, Apple said iPhone owners were confused, “partly because the creators of this new technology (including Apple) have not provided enough education about these issues to date.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703367004576288790268529716.html?mod=djemalertNEWS
Did you hear that Sony & Playstation have just been hacked, millions of peoples details potentially at risk.
bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13215534
Gazzip
Yes Heard about that one yesterday
Apple is already working on an update for iPhones which is expected to release in the coming weeks that will address the location issues. The iOS update will reduce the amount of WiFi hotspots and cell towers recorded to the phone and will delete the location cache completely when location services are disabled.
It’s not uploaded to iTunes when you plug in your phone. It’s transferred as part of the entire phone backup. All the data on your phone is transferred to iTunes when you sync your device. Nothing is transferred by just plugging in. This data was never determined to be sent anywhere. It’s on your phone, and within the backup of your phone. Nowhere else. The problem wasn’t found on Droid phones, because they are constantly sending the location data to a server somewhere. Like it or not, you’re being tracked anytime you have a phone capable of doing so. If you don’t want that type of information to exist anywhere, then you need to live off the grid.