Your IPhone is Tracking You

LexusLover's Avatar
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives...every_move.php

"Researchers have discovered that the iPhone is keeping track of where you go and storing that information in a file that is stored - unencrypted and unprotected - on any machine with which you synchronize your phone. It is not clear why Apple is collecting this data.

"Data scientists Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden came across the file - "consolidated.db" - while they were thinking about the potential trove of mobile data stored on a cellphone and thinking about ways to visualize this data.

......

"While it is not unusual for cellphones to track users' location, that information is typically kept behind a firewall and it requires a court order for others to be able to access it. This isn't the case with this particular file, raising serious questions about privacy and security."

______________________________ ______________________________ _

This was discussed in the news last night, and this is NOT an "application," but imbedded in the "operating system" and CANNOT be turned off or deleted. It is also accessible remotely without the user's knowledge or approval.

This topic has also been discussed in various threads with various opinions in the past. It seems "alert" worthy for those who did not see it on the news. If the MODS think otherwise, please move it.
I saw that same article.. glad I have an Android phone
Breaku321's Avatar
Shit!!! I knew I should have bought the android! Now I'm going to have to encrypt my backup info, hopefully the S.O. Wont get to nosey! I have covered the tracks pretty well so far... Thanks for the info.
john353's Avatar
I have android phone as well, and I was considering going back to the iPhone after my contract is up. It looks as if I may rethink that decision.
LexusLover's Avatar
I have android phone as well, and I was considering going back to the iPhone after my contract is up. It looks as if I may rethink that decision. Originally Posted by john353
Hobby phone!

Do you use Skype? Don't believe the hype.

If you want to bet your future on marketing bullshit, so be it. I don't.
john353's Avatar
Hobby phone!

Do you use Skype? Don't believe the hype.

If you want to bet your future on marketing bullshit, so be it. I don't. Originally Posted by LexusLover
I have a prepaid hobby phone and never even looked into Skype, so I have no idea how it even works.
Fred8152's Avatar
No hobby phone for me but also no Iphone either.
This isn't quite as salacious as it may seem. The most worrisome aspect is that it is unencrypted. It would be doubtful that the android phone doest tract as well. I know since I have one, it does have tracking turned on by defaut when you install google maps . . Which I believe is the same as what iPhone uses as well. It could be actualy a google map issue.

Anyone who is not using a prepaid hobby phone is fooling themselves and are going to get caught if you have a SO. They are cheap enough and pretty untraceable. Get one or it's just a matter of days before you get caught. A prime example is one agency that I was going through started spamming text messages of when a new girl was in town.
sofiaofhouston's Avatar
bone phone!
  • guyw
  • 04-21-2011, 09:24 AM
Complex09 is right. If any cell phone has a GPS option turned on for maps, etc, it will track and store where you are located. In the Android and Blackberry, turn off Location Aiding.
LexusLover's Avatar
In the Android and Blackberry, turn off Location Aiding. Originally Posted by guyw
#1, it's not just about location, it's about content, just like your computer;

#2, as soon as you turn on your phone you are "located" even without a GPS application and account, even with "Location Aiding" turned off.

The bottom line is: When it's YOUR ass, be conservative and cautious.

FYI: I opened this thread for information and an alert. With all due respect, if someone wants to pretend they are "safe" that's their business..... it was only "a word for the wise."
Wakeup's Avatar
I say we all live in 12'x12' Faraday cage wire boxes, naked, and drink our own urine and eat our own feces so we have no contact whatsoever with the outside world...

That makes me feel safe...
LexusLover's Avatar
.... so we have no contact whatsoever with the outside world...That makes me feel safe... Originally Posted by Wakeuр
Isn't that a tad extreme?

How about some prudent, legitimate measures to assure at least a moderate level of anonomous interaction with at leaset a minimal appreciation of the risks from relaxing one's attention to the potential threat of damage .... some on here might call it ........... "screening"?
LexusLover's Avatar
.... never even looked into Skype, so I have no idea how it even works. Originally Posted by john353
http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/home

And here is my point:

http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=97408

"There is nothing wrong with these tracking cookis they are used to track you location so that if you make Skypeout call they know how and what to charge you becuase the do not know if you travel round the world it is just a security measure to help make sure you are the legit user of that skype name. Also if you may have done the mode that allowes you to logg onto the forum without having to enter you name and password each time then this is done by a tracking cooking."

John,
If a 13-year-old can hack the FBI, HLS, CIA, DOD, ....firewalls, getting a read out on the "tracking" is a walk-in-the-park for an SO with a checkbook..... OR...!
Update on the iPHONE tracking you.. read HERE seems the phone is tracking the towers its talking to along your path and not actually where you are going to - or so the article claims. My question is this.. why is storing that data anyway?