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:5, Interesting)
Hush now, don't ruin a good anti-Apple flamefest. You're not giving the haters a chance to proclaim that they've never used, never owned, never wished to own or even seen an Apple product in real life but they're still horribly outraged and this great assault on their human rights by the evil empire led by the great satan, Steve Jobs.
Yes, I'm exaggerating but I can't help but be slightly baffled by the hordes of people who seem to think that Apple is somehow more powerful in the world of computing than Microsoft or that they are "more evil" than MS has ever been. Not to mention the fact that about half of them swear they've never used a mac or iDevice in their lives yet they are experts on the subject...
Re:OMG big brother... (Score:4, Interesting)
Still doesn't really matter, because the phone company has this information on you anyway, and the DOJ has been claiming they can access it without a warrant for years.
Personally I'm *much* more worried about the personal location history on ATT's servers that I *don't* get a notification if the police sniff, than anything that is sitting on my own device.
In other news... (Score:4, Interesting)
Microsoft has no on-device location tracking but sends the location to MS together with the Unique Device ID [arstechnica.com].
Great, just great.
Re:OMG big brother... (Score:5, Interesting)
The problem comes when you have states like Michigan where the police are allegedly downloading information from a smart phone in a minute or two
Please stop spreading this nonsense. This isn't "insightful", it is inciteful. There are no allegations, at least no serious ones, that the Michigan State Police are doing any such thing. The only allegation is that they COULD do it because they have a piece of equipment that could do it.
Not even the ACLU has found anyone who has claimed they are doing it. All it would take it one person to stand up and say "this happened to me" and the ACLU would be all over it. They aren't. They're "investigating" the policies by putting in FOIA requests. The ACLU doesn't need FOIA, they need a victim, and apparently they haven't got even one of those to sue on behalf of.
The link you provide is just another one of the "they could be" flamebait articles. They "can" do this. That's all it says. Well, no shit. So can a lot of other people who have bought the CellBrite system. It makes no claims that it is happening. It doesn't even pretend to say that there is even one known victim of this "big problem", as you call it. It DOES try to make it an issue of minority rights by telling us, in essence, "think of the minorities this is happening to." Think of the children.
COULD DO is not the same as IS DOING. Until there is some shred of evidence that it IS being done, stop claiming it is.
Re:RDS astroturf for the First Post Win? (Score:4, Interesting)
Errr... what?
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.
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"?
2) Your phone is not pre-tapped, the database cannot be accessed on the phone without hacking/jailbreaking.
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).
3) You could give me a desktop app that does this, provided I don't have my backups encrypted.
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.
4) This would be no different from someone being hired to follow you, they can draw the same (incorrect) inferences about your habits.
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.
Re:RDS astroturf for the First Post Win? (Score:4, Interesting)
1) Ever? All it takes is Apple deciding to offer it as available to app developers. Did you notice the patent pending in the summary? This is there so Apple can make a profit off of it.
2) Did you not read the stories about the cops in Michigan? They will get this information from you at a routine traffic stop, no warrant or even suspicion required.
3) iTunes doesn't encrypt backups by default. What percentage do you think turns on encryption?
4) Except following tens of millions of people for their entire lives can get expensive. This makes it exceptionally cheap and easy, and therefore much easier to abuse, and not just on a case by case basis but en masse.