A "stalker" file on iPhones and 3G iPads running on iOS 4 tracks where you are along with a time stamp and saves it in a file on your device for a year. The news of this tracking issue was released yesterday. I am surprised that Apple, one of my favorite companies, is tracking my every move and hiding the information on my devices. Even if Apple is only using the information to sell ads at a better rate, I don't like it. According to UK researchers, Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden, interviewed by GeekWire:
iPhones and 3G-enabled iPads have been recording the position of user devices into a hidden file since the introduction of iOS 4 last year. The researchers have created a Mac OS X application called iPhone Tracker to allow users to see the data their devices are collecting about their location.
What does the file in iPhones and 3G iPads collect? More than just your location. The Apple privacy policy on page 37 says your iPhone collects the following information (via GeekWire):
We may collect information such as occupation, language, zip code, area code, unique device identifier, location, and the time zone where an Apple product is used so that we can better understand customer behavior and improve our products, services, and advertising.
And since most of clicked on the "Accept" button when we set up our iOS devices we unknowingly gave Apple the right track and store our coordinates.
Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden on YouTube
Researchers have the evidence to show how Apple collects the data without you ever knowing it according to Engadget:
A duo of UK researchers have uncovered a potentially worrying (and oddly enough, undocumented) feature in iOS 4: it asks your iPhone to record your location constantly, then timestamps that data and records it for posterity. The trouble with this unsolicited location tracking is that the hidden file that holds the data -- consolidated.db -- is relatively easy to uncover and read, making any desktops you've backed your phone up to and the phone itself even bigger privacy dangers than they would usually be.
The Risks
This tracking data recorded in a file on your iPhone or 3G iPad can be retrieved by anyone with physical access to your iPhone/iPad or any computer that syncs up with these devices.
The good news, according to Pete Warden's iPhone website, is the tracking data is NOT being sent beyond your personal devices, however if someone can access your laptop or any computer you use to sync with your iPhone then the data can be accessed.
Government officials are asking for answers. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., sent Apple's CEO Steve Jobs a letter with nine pointed questions according to Technolog on Msnbc.com. Franken says what we are all wondering:
What is even more worrisome is that this file is stored in an unencrypted format on customers' iPads, iPhones and every computer a customer has used to back up his or her information.
Today show reporter Rosa Golijan on Digital Life admits she initially thought the tracking data collected was no more risky than the files collected on Facebook, that is until she made this discovery:
That map hardly revealed anything that a person who follows me on Twitter or Facebook wouldn't know! But then I picked one of those blue blobs on the map and zoomed in. Suddenly I wasn't laughing anymore — I was too busy watching an eerily accurate replay of my travels around my home.
An iPhone Tracker app developed by security researchers Allan and Warden will help you know when you are being tracked. According to Digital Life on Today.com:
Allan and Warden have built and made available a Mac OS app called iPhone Tracker. If this app is opened on a Mac OS computer which has been used to sync an iPhone or 3G-enabled iPad, you will be able to view all the location data which has been recorded by your devices.
If you want updates on this this tracking issue and the security breach, you can follow the researchrs who discovered this problem on Twitter:
- Alasdair Allan ([email protected]) @aallan on Twitter
- Pete Warden ([email protected]) @petewarden on Twitter
More information on the tracking issue here:
- Gov't officials want answers to secret iPhone tracking (Technolog on msnnc.com)
- Pete Warden's iPhoneTracker app
- iPhone Tracker: Apple Has Your Permission to Track You
- Maria Schiavocampo on NBC TODAY Show: Your IPhone Is Tracking Your Every Move (Hulu)
- iPhone Tracking Your Every Move–And Here’s A Map To Prove It « iPhone Tracking Your Every Move–And Here’s A Map To Prove It « CBS Chicago
- Pete Warden and Alasdair Allan talking about how they discovered the existence of the tracking database on the iPhone (YouTube)
Photo of NYC Apple store by Becky Snyder.
