iPhone Tracking Ruckus Ongoing 353
Trailrunner7 writes "A pair of Apple customers has filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging that Apple is invading their privacy by collecting location data about iPhone and iPad users without their knowledge." and theodp noted that the iPhone tracking 'Bug' is actually patent pending... which makes it harder to buy the mistake argument. As if that's not enough fun, South Korea, Italy, Germany and other countries are all looking into it.
Re:OMG big brother... (Score:1, Informative)
I just assume Ron Paul supporters and libertarians are racist women haters.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Paul/Newsletters_sandbox#Ron_Paul_newsletter_controversy [wikipedia.org]
In 2006, Paul joined 32 other members of Congress in opposing the renewal of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, originally passed to remove barriers to voting participation for minorities.
Opposed to Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Paul introduced the Sanctity of Life Act of 2005, a bill that would have defined human life to begin at conception, and removed challenges to prohibitions on abortion from federal court jurisdiction.
Re:feature? (Score:4, Informative)
Cell towers always logged which cell you were connected to.
What cell towers didn't do was log on the device side, a detailed record of your lat/long movements, which can then be tied to businesses, paths of travel, personal interests, spending patterns, and your daily comings and goings.
These things were also not done on a handset containing a myriad of other personal data it could be linked to, and not on handsets that have other applications which are granted access to this data (which the user isn't aware exists).
They also didn't back this data up to PCs, most of which are windows PCs, which are insecure by definition.
In short, they had access to exactly one piece of data, what cell tower you were connected to at a given point in time. This is a fantastically intricate web of personal information.
Re:RDS astroturf for the First Post Win? (Score:5, Informative)
1) Any app as in any DESKTOP application on your mac that you willfully install knowing it may do this and provided your backups aren't encrypted. iFarmville (assuming the i means it's for iOS) CANNOT access this database, ever.
2) Your phone is not pre-tapped, the database cannot be accessed on the phone without hacking/jailbreaking. Further, law enforcement would have a much easier time getting the location from the cell phone companies which can give them REAL TIME data.
3) You could give me a desktop app that does this, provided I don't have my backups encrypted. You could give me an iPhone app that does this, but it will tell me that it's tracking me.
4) This would be no different from someone being hired to follow you, they can draw the same (incorrect) inferences about your habits.
Re:RDS astroturf for the First Post Win? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:feature? (Score:5, Informative)
What cell towers didn't do was log on the device side, a detailed record of your lat/long movements, which can then be tied to businesses, paths of travel, personal interests, spending patterns, and your daily comings and goings.
They do on their side though. For an example see here [www.zeit.de]. (Thanks to FrykD for pointing this out to me in another slashdot discussion.)
God knows how they are protecting this data or who has access to it, at least I can take steps to protect my data.
Re:RDS astroturf for the First Post Win? (Score:4, Informative)
How would a desktop application know (quoting GP now) "where you spend most of your time and when you are not home"? Surely you see the difference between "the subject uses his computer at home" and "the subject spends a lot of time at his friend's home while his friend is at work"?
The database from the phone is stored in the backup of the phone on your desktop, the database on the phone is inaccessible to software on the phone. Hence it requires a desktop application in order to access the database.
I don't know what the GP meant by "pre-tapped," except, I suppose, that there might be legal precedent stating law enforcement has a right to request this data. If you're ever arrested, they can get the data off your phone, at which time it's the equivalent of having followed you around (even when they never did).
Or they could ask the cell phone companies for the exact same information that is stored in the phone (as they are keeping that same information on their servers).
Again, what? How could an app that's sitting on your desktop Mac at home know where you are when you're not at home? Clearly this doesn't seem to be an issue for you, but it certainly is for everybody else.
See above. The database of locations is not software accessible on the phone, only in the unencrypted backups on a regular computer. It's not an issue for me because I chose to encrypt the backups by clicking the check box.
It would be different, and if you don't see that you're blind. A person hired to follow you around actually has to follow you around. That costs time and money. This way, all the attorneys have to do is subpoena the information that they already know is on your phone. Second, an investigator that follows you around has to take the stand and give testimony against you, and your attorney has the right of cross-examination. "Did my client appear to be looking at the children? Which table was he sitting at, and which direction was he facing?" With automatically gathered location data, it merely has to be presented by the prosecuting attorney and, in the jury's eyes, it's up to you to shoot holes in this "factual, computerized data." That's a big, big difference.
You're right, they would have to pay a PI. Or they could put a tracking device on you. Or they could ask the cell phone company for the exact same data that is on the phone. If the government or someone with with sufficient resources wants to track you - they're probably gonna be able to track you.