Apple Releases iOS 4.3.3 To Fix Location Tracking 212
An anonymous reader writes "Apple has released a software update (iOS 4.3.3) to fix the much-talked-about iPhone Location Tracking bug. Apple faced a lot of criticism over the issue — iPhone and iPad secretly tracks users' locations and saves them in the device's cache as well as in a hidden file which is copied to the PC whenever the computer gets synced with device."
bug? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:bug? (Score:4, Interesting)
The data was held in a SQLLite database with a default size of 2MB. This obviously seemed like a small file but in reality it could hold a lot of data. So the file size has been reduced.
So when are Google going to fix their OS and also stop sending data with a unique identifier back to HQ? yes, iOS seemed like it was tracking you, but the data in the database file on the device is a cache of location assistance data received.
Re:bug? (Score:5, Insightful)
From the Apple FAQ http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2011/04/27location_qa.html [apple.com]:
8. What other location data is Apple collecting from the iPhone besides crowd-sourced Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data?
Apple is now collecting anonymous traffic data to build a crowd-sourced traffic database with the goal of providing iPhone users an improved traffic service in the next couple of years.
To produce a traffic database, the location of the phones must be read and transmitted to Apple. Claims that they only send location data and never pull it is clearly false. Of course, the database file on the phone was not the actual problem. It was sloppy to back it up, but it was more a tell tale sign Apples actual bad behavior. The bad behavior was in reading peoples location from their phone when they were told not to.
Google has allowed you to actually turn off tracking by Google. It is part of the setup procedure in every Android phone. They don't even stop you from using location services if you tell them not to collection our location data. If someone shows that Google reading that data when they have been told not to, I will agree that they have behaved badly.
At this point though Apple hasn't come out and said that they will stop secretly tracking iPhones. They have been specifically vauge about what they collect, but leave enough wiggle room so that they can claim they told you. As it stands, they claim that they are reading your location info. They worded it in a way that most people don't realize they are having their location info transmitted to Apple.
That is sketchy at best. The big question is, are they still reading location data when location services are turned off, or are they just hiding the fact that they are tracking you? Based on what they have said, and just as importantly, what they have not said, it sounds like they are still secretly tracking users.
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The location of the nearest wi-fi hotspot or cell tower *is not* "your location", nor is it "tracking" you. If you look at the actual data in the file, you will find all sorts of entries for places you have never been, or areas you have been to, but at a completely different time. I agree that it was sloppy of Apple to leave the backed up data sitting unencrypted, but it is absolutely different than accurate GPS coordinates of your movements.
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Again. The traffic database that Apple says they are creating REQU
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No, it requires knowing where a cell tower or wi-fi hotspot is generally. You're fixated on the "location", but it's NOT the location of the phone that's being recorded. Let me just say it again for you... It's NOT the location of the PHONE that is being recorded. Stop making assumptions about the data. I HAVE an iPhone. I have gone through the process and looked at the actual data recorded. It's NOT where I have been. At best, it's a general map of the cell towers in my area, and in certain instances, poin
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The bad behavior was in reading peoples location from their phone when they were told not to.
To bad this never happened! Data was never transmitted.
At this point though Apple hasn't come out and said that they will stop secretly tracking iPhones.
Funny how something that's been public for years is somehow secret.
The big question is, are they still reading location data when location services are turned off
Once again they never were.
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Google has allowed you to actually turn off tracking by Google. It is part of the setup procedure in every Android phone. They don't even stop you from using location services if you tell them not to collection our location data.
I know Android users aren't that smart but really? Do you even understand the concept of location services? When you use location services your phone can only determine it's GPS coordinates. That in and of itself is pretty useless. So then the APP SENDS THAT DATA TO A SERVER SOMEWHERE where it is logged and the server checks its database to send back a location. The reality is unless you only use location services to display GPS coordinates on your screen. YOUR STILL BEING TRACKED!
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Exactly how does 42.231,82.629 tell me where the nearest gas station is? It Doesn't. GPS data is useless to humans without a database of some other info to compare it to. Use google maps or google earth then google has your location. Other then a few nav systems that allow you to download a map anything using location services transmits your location.
And even just getting your GPS coordinates will transmit your location since the phone will ping cell towers to help it speed things up (called AGPS and requir
GPS is not instant though (Score:2)
Re:bug? (Score:5, Informative)
what iOS does after this update is what Android has done all along.
1. location updates only stored temporarily.
2. location updates not stored at all when 'location services' disabled (MENU > Location and Security > Use Wireless Networks)
The other difference is that Google has been upfront about what they do with location data. They said all along that they use this data and that it is anonymized.
Apple seem to have come clean now so its all good.
No reason to hate either side now...unless you want to hate both, because they're both much the same.
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oops, double post - ignore the parent comment :(
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except if you've got a 3G, then you're screwed, still, more, again...
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what iOS does after this update is what Android has done all along.
1. location updates only stored temporarily.
2. location updates not stored at all when 'location services' disabled (MENU > Location and Security > Use Wireless Networks)
Data sent to google is anonymized. I assume Apple does the same.
Both of them collect the data to build a database of open wifi locations.
No reason to hate either side now...unless you want to hate both, because they're both much the same.
Not very helpful (Score:2, Insightful)
The update does not help if you are using an older unsupported iPhone or iPod.
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Once again STOP MAKING SHIT UP!!! The phone did not transmit this data and does not and never has transmitted location data with location services off. There has never been any secret transmission of data! Everything sent to Apple has been known from day 1.
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Steve has never outright said he's not an Alien from the planet Kanzis. Therefore he must be hiding that fact right. Yes lets ignore the fact that bunches of researchers inspecting every packet transmitted from the phone have not found any data being transmitted. Steve must be using some of his Alien technology to transmit it via subspace. Put your tinfoil hat back on and go back to watching Fox News.
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sure, location based services somehow enables apple to GUESS your location without your phone telling them anything?!
The phone most definitely transmits your location to Apple, otherwise how would location based services even work? In order for apple to provide ads targetted to your location, they need to know where you are. There are more uses for location services too, all of them requiring the server to know your location.
I have no problem with this - the data is anonymized and I've yet to hear of even
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Did you even read the post you replied to?
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I believe I 'misread' it...sorry. I'll move on now. :(
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Older phones used a different file that can not be accessed directly in any way. Not that this one could be without jail-breaking or the users authorization.
FIX (Score:2, Insightful)
FIX or hide somewhere else?
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I'm bummed (Score:2)
I must be the only person who thought that feature was nice. Given that it's not shared with anybody, it is nothing but useful for me.
When I go on vacation or someplace interesting, I drag along a GPS logger so I know where I've been, and I can geolocate my pictures. I have to take another device in my backpack and keep it charged etc. If my phone did that, I'd be happy as hell. There are apps for that, but they suck serious battery. This low resolution database would be a nice compliment to to the GPS
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You can't do something "covertly" "by accident", because covert implies it was done on purpose.
Except it was not useful for that (Score:4, Informative)
Since it didn't actually track your location, only present a database of known network points around you, you actually couldn't use it to track anything. I had a look at my own data and you couldn't tell where I lived or worked from it, and those are places I go every day.
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I must be the only person who thought that feature was nice. Given that it's not shared with anybody, it is nothing but useful for me.
When I go on vacation or someplace interesting, I drag along a GPS logger so I know where I've been, and I can geolocate my pictures. I have to take another device in my backpack and keep it charged etc. If my phone did that, I'd be happy as hell. There are apps for that, but they suck serious battery. This low resolution database would be a nice compliment to to the GPS logger.
Sheldon
First of all most of the juice an app draws in that situation will be drawn running the GPS on the phone. It shouldn't make a difference which app does that. The only way it could is if some apps turned off the GPS, logged then turned it back off vs always on. An app could be written for that too.
Secondly a tracklog that's only accurate to within a kilometer or two is next to useless for geolocating pictures. If you've ever went geocaching you'd realise that relocating something with 30m accuracy can get fr
iPhone 3G? SOL (Score:2, Informative)
It look like after 2 years, you're no longer an Apple customer. You're a former customer until you prove otherwise with your wallet.
Disclaimer: I can't find any official statement from Apple about their current 3G support policy. But they did exclude th 3G from t
Re:iPhone 3G? SOL (Score:4, Informative)
Two years is double or four times as long as other phone providers.
A Sony Ericsson phone is effectively abandonware as soon as you buy one. A HTC phone is released every 6-12 months and with such a large number of phones to support you won't see many or any updates after 12 months.
Apple's support for the iPhone is pretty exception in the mobile phone market. So unless you can provide an example of a mobile operator who provided support after two years I think you need to stop whining.
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Given how limited the phone choice is, and how 'special' iPhone users are, and the premium they pay, and the fact that this 'bug' got (or will get) apple into trouble...
You can hardly compare can you?
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regardless, this demonstrates the benefits of free software. A similar phone loaded with aosp would have lifetime updates thanks to cyanogenmod.
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sorry to burst your bubble (well, actually, not really) but is that what you have seen for Android phones? You know, the ones that can't upgrade from 1.6 to 2..
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agreed but savvy consumers will vote with their wallet and with the benefit of hindsight choose wisely next time. :-)
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Depends on the warranty, no?
Automobile emission control systems (and, broadly interpreted, that includes the drivetrain) have an EPA-mandated 10 year / 100,000 mile warranty in the USA. That would mean the car you bought 9 years 11 months and 30 days ago still makes you a current customer.
Owning something that will be supported or last for only 2 years? I try to avoid that if possible.
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First, it's 2011. Most OEM's support android phones for months, not years.
Second, people like you are looking for something to qq about. you would complain if your water was wet.
Shut up.
I see so you arguments are:
1) Other manufacturers can be bad, so Apple should be too
2) People should never complain
3) You like to abuse and bully people
I bet you'd defend Apple if they went around with squads killing people and committing atrocities. Brand loyalty is for suckers.
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1) Other manufacturers can be bad, so Apple should be too
No but ragging on the one which actually comes out ahead of most, if not all, manufacturers in terms of official support is disingenuous. iPhone 3G was supported from july 2008 to march 2011, that's nearly 3 years worth of OS updates for that model of phone. Its successor, the iPhone 3GS, was released june 2009 at which time the writing was on the wall for the older hardware but it was supported well after that.
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1) Other manufacturers can be bad, so Apple should be too
No but ragging on the one which actually comes out ahead of most, if not all, manufacturers in terms of official support is disingenuous.
You're kidding me, right? This is the same manufacturer that's famous for selling a phone that drops out if you hold it wrong, and screens that scratch if you look at them harshly.
I've had few things from Apple and their support is my #2 reason for disliking them. My #1 reason is lockdown and crippling in order to sell the next model. #3 is their draconian control of the sales channels.
Every product I've owned or used at work from Apple has given me nothing but trouble. Just junk, and their customer service
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From your posts in this thread, your clear grinding axe and your belligerent "Apple can do no right" dogma, I suspect that the reason "every Apple product" gives you trouble is down to the common factor in all of those interactions: you.
Given today's flurry of posts in this thread your neckbeard must be seriously chafed.
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If you live in the states and bought a phone 2+ years ago, you are probably eligible for a very cheap upgrade from your carrier, provided you're willing to re-up your contract.
Given the high-profile nature of this, even if you're not due for a re-up because you bought a refurb 3G 6 months ago, I'd suggest picking up your phone and calling customer service for your cell provider, and asking them what they can do to help you out. If you're willing to renew your contract, I'd bet they'd be willing to cut you
Re:iPhone 3G? SOL (Score:4, Interesting)
Still, after paying more for that phone than I've paid for some computers, I'm pretty unhappy with Apple. I've been using Apple computers continuously (but not exclusively) since 1985. I guess I'm pining for the days when a computer was still pretty useful and still getting updates 5 years after you bought it.
I really don't want to start another 2 year commitment on a smartphone. And the iPad I'm considering looks like less of a bargain if it is going to be made intentionally obsolete in 2 years.
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>I guess I'm pining for the days when a computer was still
>pretty useful and still getting updates 5 years after you
>bought it.
My iPhone 3G was rather creaky with iOS 4. But my 2007 iMac is still my primary computer, still useful, and still getting updates. And based on the developer previews, I do expect it to run Lion fairly well. The only reason I can think of that won't "last" five years is if I switch to a MacBook Pro. And even then, I'd pass it along to a friend who could get some use out of
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If you bought your iPhone between Jul 11, 2008 and Jun 7, 2009 (and perhaps after that date) you have an iPhone 3G and you're going to have this bug as long you own the phone.
"'untrackerd' [modmyi.com] Cydia Tweak stops iOS Location Data Storing."
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Give me a break (Score:5, Informative)
And People still can't stop making shit up! There is one file. (the Cache) its not hidden. It contains locations of cell towers and wi-fi APs. It does not contain the users location. The data for each tower was over written and only logged when towers came into range. As such the data never could be used to "trace some ones every move". The data would only show the general location of the user (being somewhere near a tower). The app that showed the locations sensationalized the whole thing by showing a week or mores worth of data by default putting in many more data points. Many days would actually contain few or no data points at all. And no one has shown this data being sent to Apple.
Re:Give me a break (Score:4, Insightful)
Whenever they're reporting on Apple related news Slashdot turns into a sort of techie version of Fox News, ignoring basic established facts in favor of their own predetermined truth. It's mind boggling really. You don't have to like Apple but ignoring the facts is no way for a geek to behave.
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WiFi APs are good enough to map your location on a map on wifi only iPads (labeled "current location"). Their range is very limited, so coming into contact with one is the same as knowing location -- especially when combined with what other APs are visible to you at the same time -- which is why Apple has always referred to this as a "location" finding technique.
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Apple are using this data to create a database of open wifi towers. How can they do this unless they have the collected data sent to them.
I believe the data is anonymized and more than likely quite safe.
However, to claim it isn't being sent at all is naive. It may well not have been sent if the user had location based services turned off, however.
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Cell towers transmit there location to the phone and the wifi locations are looked up and sent from skyhook. None of this is useful information for Apple they already have access to all that info. This data is not transmitted. When you use location services to find your location it looks at this file and the towers and wifi signals to get a head start for the GPS system if once your location is found there are new wifi signals in the area these are sent anonymously. This file is never sent. only new APs dis
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How can he talk to you in person, you're an AC.
That's the trolling equivalent of repeating everything a bully is saying for emphasis while standing behind him and wearing a balaclava with a voice disguiser.
You claim he's a loudmouth in the chorus, I'd say it was more like centre stage compared to your truly anonymous shouting from the cheap seats.
Pot, meet kettle. Kettle, pot.
What "Bug" ? (Score:2)
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that was a quote from 6 months ago, repackaged to look like it was said in response to the latest location conspiracy.
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No, it was in the news in July, and then somebody took it and made it look like it had anything to do with this issue. It doesn't.
The information was talking about using people's locations to provide services. Kind of important when you expect your Cheap Gas Finder app to show you prices that are nearby, and such things.
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that was possibly google's andy rubin saying the data was 'very important' to them? And the data being referred to was the locations of wifi towers, NOT the locations of their customers.
In fact, anyone who uses a cell phone, and in particular if they have location based services turned on, are already sending their location to any number of places.
Its also anonymized. People talk about situations where you may still be able to be identified, but the chances are so remote that there are much bigger things
Not For Mine (Score:2)
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Like Google did with Android? hide it away and make it only accessible if you root the phone.
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Actually that was a feature. It's not needed any more since OBL's been tracked.
Re:Fact checking not a requirement for posting? (Score:5, Insightful)
My understanding was that what was being logged was not the users' locations but rather that of the nearest cell tower or hotspot.
Your understanding is flawed. It wasn't logging the nearest cell tower or wifi. It was, based on location, downloading to the phone a list of nearby cell towers and wifi networks (from a crowdsourced database run by Apple) so that when the user used an app that requested the location of the phone, this cache could be used to quickly generate a rough estimate and speed up the GPS location. This is a very useful optimization for most of us and the fact that it allowed people to generate a very rough log of our locations over time was simply an unintended side effect.
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My understanding was that what was being logged was not the users' locations but rather that of the nearest cell tower or hotspot.
Your understanding is flawed. It wasn't logging the nearest cell tower or wifi. It was, based on location, downloading to the phone a list of nearby cell towers and wifi networks (from a crowdsourced database run by Apple) so that when the user used an app that requested the location of the phone, this cache could be used to quickly generate a rough estimate and speed up the GPS location. This is a very useful optimization for most of us and the fact that it allowed people to generate a very rough log of our locations over time was simply an unintended side effect.
In order to get that data a third party would have to either steal your phone or steal your iPhone backups from your computer. Either way, you would have bigger problems than a log file with your locations.
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My understanding was that what was being logged was not the users' locations but rather that of the nearest cell tower or hotspot.
Your understanding is flawed. It wasn't logging the nearest cell tower or wifi. It was, based on location, downloading to the phone a list of nearby cell towers and wifi networks (from a crowdsourced database run by Apple) so that when the user used an app that requested the location of the phone, this cache could be used to quickly generate a rough estimate and speed up the GPS location. This is a very useful optimization for most of us and the fact that it allowed people to generate a very rough log of our locations over time was simply an unintended side effect.
In order to get that data a third party would have to either steal your phone or steal your iPhone backups from your computer. Either way, you would have bigger problems than a log file with your locations.
Or obtain your phone by subpoena.
In some cases it may be the entire intent of the excercise is to determine what your location has been.
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Or subpoena the same information from the carrier... and oh yeah, that tracking hasn't stopped.
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No actually your understanding is flawed. Data is from radio logs. The poster was Right.
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No, you (and the GGP) are wrong.
I suggest that before installing the update you try for yourself to access the infamous database from your latest iPhone backup. (One of the "fixes" in the iOS 4.3.3 update is that the database will no longer be backed-up). You can get the instructions on how to locate the SQLite database and how to open the CellLocation table using the SQLite Manager plug-in for Firefox directly from the people that "discovered" the issue. [github.com] The most relevant fields are Timestamp, Latitude and
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To produce a traffic database, the location of the phones must be read and transmitted to Apple. Claims that they only send location data and never pull it is clearly false.
The issue we were discussing is the list of cell towers and wifi networks stored on iPhones and which Apple has changed in this update. As for logging user location data anonymously, I'm sure Apple is doing so, at least they said they were when I clicked through the location stuff on the maps application in my phone. But that is a significantly different from what we were discussing.
Re:Fact checking not a requirement for posting? (Score:5, Insightful)
My understanding was that what was being logged was not the users' locations but rather that of the nearest cell tower or hotspot. But whatever, hurf durf, Steve wuz spying on us.
OK, so you're justifying Apple tracking their users to within a few hundred yards.
What CAN'T you justify, fanboi?
I might be called a fanboi, but they were caching location data in what seemed like a logical manner to speed up location services. Many users, myself included, enjoy speedier access.
Sure, they should have encrypted it by default, but it's not like their users had any expectation that they weren't being tracked. They were surprised by an unencrypted cache of location data, but ATT, Verizon, Sprint, ???, are already readily tracking user locations of all phones on the network. I would think someone silly if they expected the location services apps they are using aren't tracking them as well.
People that get upset and say "OMG! APPLE IS BIG BROTHER!" are the same people who get upset when very private information on facebook is seen by people they didn't realize could see it.
Re:Fact checking not a requirement for posting? (Score:4, Informative)
Yeah clearly that data needs to be synchronised to iTunes
OK, one last time for the cheap seats: Apple syncs everything as part of an iPhone backup. They do this so that when you restore from backup you get the device back to its backed up state (kinda the point), temporary files included. When you actually look at a backup all manner of cache files are included. It is not only a backup of data, it's a backup of device state.
Re:Fact checking not a requirement for posting? (Score:4, Informative)
What about licenses and DRM which tie purchases to device, meaning restoring to a different device you can lose your data. (Don't care if it allos 2, or 3 or 5 devices....bottom line if you have trouble with your phone you can lose more than the worth of the phone).
Are you daft, bro? Do you actually have any idea of what you're talking about or just spewing random hater crap?
I've backed up and restored the same image onto THREE DIFFERENT IPHONES now. Including my upgrade from a 3G to a 4. And can you guess how much data I've lost? Bingo! Not a single app. Not a single song. Not a single video.
Go back under your bridge, troll.
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The data wasn't sync the users folder was the file just happened to be in it. HEY IDIOT THAT"S WHY ITS CALLED A BACKUP.
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The data wasn't sync the users folder was the file just happened to be in it. HEY IDIOT THAT"S WHY ITS CALLED A BACKUP.
If it's temp data it DOESN't NEED TO BE BACKED UP. See, I can yell too.
The irony is fanboys such as yourself are this abusive and don't get modded down, but anyone daring to criticise the great Apple (all hail!) gets modded into oblivion. I'm not the idiot here.
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It's already the case that when slave labor practices are brought to light you have thousands of fanboys ranting about raising the standard of living in developing countries and it's better than starving (as if paying a living wage were simply not an option).
I hate Apple with a passion but think they're actually improving the standard of living in developing countries by offering work there.
The question is: are the workers free to leave for a better opportunity? If not, then they're slaves.. otherwise they're just poor, and hiring poor people is a nice thing to do.
Re:Fact checking not a requirement for posting? (Score:4, Informative)
The database is not of the nearest tower or hotspot. It is of many nearby ones, (e.g. within dozens of miles). By having this cache of local known positions, the GPS can resolve in seconds, rather than in minutes.
Look at any analysis of the actual data and you'll see that the points do a very poor job of tracking locations. Some of the points are predictions on where you might go. The point of a cache is to have the data at hand before it's needed, so that when it is needed, it's right there. It's possible he was somewhere near Las Vegas is not tracking.
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The database is not of the nearest tower or hotspot. It is of many nearby ones, (e.g. within dozens of miles). By having this cache of local known positions, the GPS can resolve in seconds, rather than in minutes.
I can turn on my HTC Touch Pro 2 (a 2 year old device) when I touch down in Bangkok, Shanghai, Berlin, Los Angeles or Seattle (all places I've been to and used GPS/location services within in the last 5 weeks) and it locks on position in less than 10 seconds. Subsequent uses in the same region (within ~150 km radius) locks within 2-3 seconds. No cache needed - if you have a decent GPS chipset to start with.
The point of a cache is to have the data at hand before it's needed, so that when it is needed, it's right there.
Why worry about where I was last week or last month, when I'm looking for position right now... You
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The HTC Touch Pro 2 uses a Qualcomm CPU with a gpsOne aGPS module. The iPhone 4 uses a Broadcom BCM4750 single-chip aGPS.
The tracking sensitivity on the gpsOne is -160dB, with TTFF of 1s/29s/35s for hot/warm/cold startup. Power consumption data not available; it's always part of the CPU.
The tracking sensitivity on the BCM4750 is -162dB, with TTFF of 0.5s/30s for hot/cold startup. Power consumption is 13mW.
The BCM4750 is a better aGPS chip, but mostly due to its greater sensitivity and independence
Not what was happening Hater (Score:2)
OK, so you're justifying Apple tracking their users to within a few hundred yards.
Nope, wherever you were it was downloading stuff from a mile or two around you, possibly more. Looking at my own data I could not have told where I lived or worked from it, because it was too widespread and of course not related to where I was specifically. Not even centering the range of data collected really told you anything...
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WHAT you mean that when I click the button that says use location services the the phone secretly uses location services!!! I'm shocked NOW SHUT UP!
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NO the don't haven't and never have. The only issue was that the log file was still being updated. However it was not used and could not be without turning location services on.
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You're at the complete wrong end of the spectrum.
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Re:Implied Admission? (Score:4, Insightful)
Isn't this (the update) an implied admission that the original software tracking was wrong?
Well, wrong in that it kept a large cache instead of a small one. Most users probably care a lot more about rapidly finding their location all the time than they do about the possibility that someone with access to their phone or an unencrypted backup thereof could generate a very rough estimate of their locations over time.
I don't see how it could have been coded in, and have had the behavior described to it, as an accident.
Then you have no idea what the software was doing. Why don't you find out by doing something crazy like reading.
What will become of the data already collected?
Data wasn't collected. It was downloaded TO the phone and cached there. The "collected data" was collected on your phone and stored there as well as in any backups of your phone. What you do with it is up to you if you have an iPhone.
Re:Implied Admission? (Score:5, Insightful)
Isn't this (the update) an implied admission that the original software tracking was wrong? I don't see how it could have been coded in, and have had the behavior described to it, as an accident. What will become of the data already collected?
Good grief. Still want this to be an issue?
Design document:
We want to be able to determine location very very quickly. Much faster than GPS.
Developer: ...OK. I'll just keep a cache of visited towers/wifi and their GPS location cached. That'll be super fast!
That's it, folks. The whole thing. non-jailbroken apps can't read the cache, so nobody cares. The cache never gets sent to Apple, so nobody cares. But it turns out that the cache is backed up to the computer, so people freak out. OH NOES!
Design document:
Make people shut up about this file.
Developer: ...Good grief. OK, I won't back up the cache to iTunes. And while I'm in the code, I'll trim the cache size - looks like it was getting big for some people.
That's it. No story.
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Well duh! why cache data that's already on The Motherships (Google's) servers. And note the file did not keep years worth of data just years old data. Data for each tower was overwritten. Thus the further you went back the less data there was.
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A location cache would have no need to record timestamps unless the data were to age out (which it did not). Nor would it need to record the same bit of data with a new time stamp while maintaining the old one. There would be absolutely no reason to ever have the same data point twice with different time stamps. In an aging system, you would just update the time stamp on the existing point so that it didn't age out.
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We're just jaded. Companies in the past have made important gestures towards the privacy crowd when they've complained, but I can't remember any off the top of my head that's done something actually *effective* and not just a publicity stunt (see also: Apple) with regards to working conditions in China.
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Just shut the hell up with your made up issues. Foxconn workers are far less likely to commit suicide then the general population. The line should be making iPhones makes workers happy saving them from suicide.
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..let's not forget that Foxconn has a few workers(total number of employees is over 920.000). Even if working conditions were absolutely great and the suicide rate was the same as the USA average (around 11 per 100.000 inhabitants) then we should be expecting around 100 suicides per year from Foxconn workers. Chinese suicide numbers (official ones at least) are lower, or 6 per 100.000 people, so then we would be looking at 55 suicides per year by Foxconn workers.
The big suicide thing that came up around Fox
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Thank you.
Well, the 6 per 100.000 in china is an official average statistic. I won't wager anything on that number being near correct. In fact I could easily believe the actual number to be much closer to the USA, even higher.
I'd wager that your devil's advocate note is at least partially correct (that factory workers who make a living wage might have a lower suicide rate than the national average), but I also have a sneaking suspicion that the official statistics may be doctored somewhat. Looking at stats
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wow! 666MB to delete a file? not that bad at all!!
Must be some HP printer drivers in there somewhere.
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The iPhone 3G has this bug, but is not being fixed...
That's because Apple wants to know where all the cheapskates live. If you're still using a 3G, you are not worthy. The data will be pooled and you will never, never see an Apple store there.
It's the truth....