Own an iPhone? Big Brother Jobs is watching you.

Blind_Io

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http://www.tomsguide.com/us/iphone-location-tracking-iios4-ipad,news-10910.html

https://pic.armedcats.net/b/bl/blind_io/2011/04/21/iphone-location-tracking_G-F-289599-13.png

If you've carried an iPhone in your pocket over the last year, then every one of your moves has been tracked and recorded by the Apple device.

Security researchers Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden have uncovered a file that the iPhone and iPad 3G use to record your location history for as far back as the user has been running iOS 4. For iPhone 4 users, that means ever since they got the phone.


What's even more startling is that this location file is synced and stored by the iTunes computer and then carried through for as long as the user retains this backup. This means that it can be continually updated even if the user upgrades and changes his device.

Thus far Apple has not yet commented on why it introduced this location recording functionality in iOS 4. What Apple does mention in its 15,200-word iTunes user agreement is something to do with location-based services.


"Apple and our partners and licensees may collect, use, and share precise location data, including the real-time geographic location of your Apple computer or device. This location data is collected anonymously in a form that does not personally identify you and is used by Apple and our partners and licensees to provide and improve location-based products and services. For example, we may share geographic location with application providers when you opt in to their location services."


The authors have blogged about this matter at O'Reilly Radar and have even made an open source program that can use to read the file stored by the iPhone/iPad and iTunes and show exactly where you've been with your device in the last year.

According to some other posts I have read about this, you cannot turn this "feature" off, it works by tower triangulation so disabling GPS on the phone doesn't prevent it from recording data.
 
who didnt see this comming?
 
It doesn't seem to me that the EULA statement covers this, since it only refers to "real-time" data.
 
Guess what? The feds knew for a year - and they are using it.

cnet said:
Law enforcement agencies have known since at least last year that an iPhone or iPad surreptitiously records its owner's approximate location, and have used that geolocation data to aid criminal investigations.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20056344-281.html

Guess what else?

As we all know, both iOS and Android use the locations of wireless lan access points to improve location-based services... Data which can be used to find the location of any given access point by MAC-address ...and there's a tool for it!
 
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I wish Steve Jobs was my big brother. Also I figured that everyone was tracking me once I started carrying a GPS enabled device. I assume the worst though.
 
Tin-foil phone case! (reception may suffer)

BRdz4.png
 
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According to John Gruber it's a bug in iOS.

A convenient bug that has been exploited by law enforcement for months. I am so buying that.
 
I downloaded that app thing to read the file and Im not so sure its as precise as they make out... for example it just looks like its plotted on a grid system and puts a marker down to the nearest node. Its even got some places Ive never actually been, but might of been close enough to off been using the Cell Mast there.
 
On a related note: http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20110421/tc_zd/263456

Michigan Police Deny Secretly Extracting Mobile Data During Traffic Stops

The Michigan Police Force has denied the unlawful use of a device that can extract all your cell phone information, the same technology that is embedded in many of our cell phones.


The data extraction devices (DED) are manufactured by CelleBrite and can quickly extract mobile data, such as contacts, photos, and deleted text messages, from your SD card. CelleBrite counts Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, and other major carriers as customers; the technology is used to transfer data to a new phone when you upgrade.


According to the Detroit Free Press, the Michigan police force bought the devices in 2006. The force justified the purchase as necessary "due to the increasing use of mobile communication devices by criminals to further their criminal activity, and have become a powerful investigative tool used to obtain critical information from criminals."


On April 13 the American Civil Liberties Union wrote a letter (see below) to the MSP asking for an explanation of how the devices are used.



"A device that allows immediate, surreptitious intrusion into private data creates enormous risks that troopers will ignore these requirements to the detriment of the constitutional rights of persons whose cell phones are searched," wrote ACLU attorney Mark Fancher, in his letter to Lt. Col. Kriste Etue of the MSP. "Additionally, if racially disproportionate incarceration rates in the state are the result of racially disproportionate contact with law enforcement officers, then there is reason to be concerned that Michigan residents of color are more likely to have their cell phones searched by Michigan State Police."


On Wednesday the police released a statement outlining how its employees are supposed to use DEDs. Police must hold a search warrant, or obtain consent from the mobile device holder, before using the DED to extract mobile data. Furthermore the DEDs can only be used by "specialty teams on criminal cases, such as crimes against children," the statement read.
"The DEDs are not being used to extract citizens' personal information during routine traffic stops."
ACLU's letter to the Michigan State Police:

This is after several stories saying the police did use the devices to extract personal information at traffic stops and the ACLU got involved.

Also, I seem to recall a California Supreme Court Case that upheld that motorists are required to hand over their phones when asked by the police, and that the information on the phone could be accessed without a warrant or probable cause. I wonder what the law says about having to unlock your phone for the cops to search it, I'm pretty sure that would be protected under the 5th.
 
So iOS knows where you go and Android is made by google which pull this kind of stuff all the time.

It seems it is true that once you buy modern technology you should lose any sense of privacy
 
So iOS knows where you go and Android is made by google which pull this kind of stuff all the time.

It seems it is true that once you buy modern technology you should lose any sense of privacy

You're on the Internet, you've already lost it.
 
Own a phone? Your carrier has been watching you. In fact, they have to watch you, because that's how cellular networks work. (They probably don't have to keep that information on file forever, but storage is cheap, and when has any large company willfully thrown away access to private information?). The only difference in the iPhone's case is that it's storing that information on the phone so apps can get at it.
 
Brb switching to carrier pigeon technology.
 
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