Thread: Your iPhone is Tracking Your Every Move (P2P Unrelated)

NOTE : This article isn't P2P related but I think that this is information that every iPhone user should have.



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 - onto any machine with which you synchronize your phone. It is not clear why Apple is collecting this data.


The discovery of a file called "consolidated.db" was made by data scientists Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden, who were initially looking at mobile data and thinking about ways to visualize it. They'll present their findings today at the Where 2.0 conference.


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.


Tracking Your Coordinates Since iOS4

The file contains longitude and latitude data, recording the phone's coordinates, along with a timestamp. This recording process seems to have started with Apple's iOS 4 update, which means that there could be almost a year's worth of location data stored - literally hundreds of thousands of data points. While the coordinates aren't always exactly correct, they are incredibly detailed. It appears that the location is determined via cell-tower triangulation, but the timing of these recordings varies.


It isn't clear why Apple is tracking this data, although the possibilities for location-based features are endless - location-based advertising, geofencing apps, and so on. Although the iPhone data is stored on back-up files when the phone is synced to another computer, it doesn't appear that the data is transmitted to Apple. Nevertheless, Apple appears to be unique in this type of tracking, and according to Warden other phones do not record user's location in the same way, and the two researchers have not been able to find comparable tracking systems on Android phones.


Although Google's Latitude, for example, can track your location and let you give that information out to your contacts, it is something you need to opt in to. With the iPhone, you have no such option. There is no way to delete the file, as it will simply be restored, but you can encrypt your iPhone back-ups to make the information somewhat less accessible.)
Your Location Data - Unencrypted, Visualized


And that is another crucial part of this problem: in addition to simply the existence of the tracking mechanism, the information is incredibly accessible. To demonstrate this, Warden and Allan have created a simple downloadable app that will let Apple users check to see what location information has been stored. The app is fascinating, but also pretty frightening as it demonstrates that anyone with access to your phone or to your back-up files will be able to see where you have been since you installed iOS 4 on your phone.

The Guardian cites Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant at the security company Sophos as saying that "if the data isn't required for anything, then it shouldn't store the location. And it doesn't need to keep an archive on your machine of where you've been." But rather than ascribing it to any sort of malicious intent is sayd it's likely a "cockup rather than a conspiracy."


Conspiracy or not, it still doesn't reflect well on Apple's concern over its users' privacy. We have reached out to Apple for comment on this file but we have not heard back at the time of publishing.

Source = ReadWriteWeb.com : Your iPhone Is Tracking Your Every Move

Mehh, its not like it really matters. It doesn't leave ur possession. And either way does it really matter if someone know where you have been? Yeh its a bit weird and stalkerish yet doesn't really affect anything.

This is quite a security threat if you think about it..

Captiannick, it doesn't effect you because you apparently have a clean conscience but a lot of people don't... if you get arrested for any crime then all the cops have to do is download an unencrypted file and they know exactly where you were for the past year.

Also think of all the apps that you install on an iPhone and each of those apps are created by different companies so even though they say that Apple doesn't collect data from that file it doesn't mean that the other companies don't. They don't need physical possession of your phone to get that data, they just need you to download one of their games and they now have access to that file if they so choose.

This is a complete invasion of privacy.

---------- Post added at 11:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:19 PM ----------

(Follow Up to the Above Article)


Senator questions Apple over iPhone tracking


Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) wants answers. Security researchers today revealed the existence of a file on iPhones and on their computer backups that logs detailed cell phone triangulation data—and has ever since iOS 4 was released last summer. The information is stored unencrypted by default, and is simple to access. That announcement led Franken to fire off a two-page letter (PDF) today, asking nine pointed questions of Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

Franken first outlines scenarios in which the release of this data could pose a problem. "Anyone who gains access to this single file could likely determine the location of the user's home, the businesses he frequents, the doctors he visits, the schools his children attend, and the trips he has taken over the past months or even a year," he writes.

Which raises the obvious question: how would an attacker get access to the data? “It is also entirely conceivable that malicious persons may create viruses to access this data from customers' iPhones, iPads, and desktop and laptop computers," the letter continues.

"There are numerous ways in which this information could be abused by criminals and bad actors. Furthermore, there is no indication that this file is any different for underage iPhone or iPad users, meaning that the millions of children and teenagers who use iPhone or iPad devices also risk having their location collected and compromised.”

The letter concludes with a list of questions.

1. Why does Apple collect and compile this location data? Why did Apple choose to initiate tracking this data in its iOS 4 operating system?
2. Does Apple collect and compile this location data for laptops?
3. How is this data generated? (GPS, cell tower triangulation, Wi-Fi triangulation, etc.)
4. How frequently is a user's location recorded? What triggers the creation of a record of someone's location?
5. How precise is this location data? Can it track the users location to 50 m, 100 m, etc.?
6. Why is this data not encrypted? What steps will Apple take to encrypt the data?
7. Why were Apple consumers never affirmatively informed of the collection and retention of their location data in this manner? Why did Apple not seek affirmative consent before doing so?
8. Does Apple believe that this conduct is permissible under the terms of its privacy policy?
9. To whom, if anyone, including Apple, has this data been disclosed? When and why were these disclosures made?

Franken “would appreciate your prompt response to these questions."


Source = Ars Technica : Senator questions Apple over iPhone tracking

"Also think of all the apps that you install on an iPhone and each of those apps are created by different companies so even though they say that Apple doesn't collect data from that file it doesn't mean that the other companies don't. They don't need physical possession of your phone to get that data, they just need you to download one of their games and they now have access to that file if they so choose. "

It's not like there android apps, they go through a rigorous screening process.... Although i have to admit i liked it better when no one knew about it. Cause now some one can steal ur iphone, jailbreak it, download ifile and easily get to all the info. And im pretty sure it only tracks you when you use the map app?


You also have to take into effect how 'off' some of the points are... I dont think it would be admissible in court.
I'l just have to remember not to use the map's app the next time im trying to get to that spot in the forest where i bury my victims. You also have to know that the cell phone companies have all this data anyways so the police theoretically could get it through them.

Originally Posted by captiannick

"Also think of all the apps that you install on an iPhone and each of those apps are created by different companies so even though they say that Apple doesn't collect data from that file it doesn't mean that the other companies don't. They don't need physical possession of your phone to get that data, they just need you to download one of their games and they now have access to that file if they so choose. "

It's not like there android apps, they go through a rigorous screening process.... Although i have to admit i liked it better when no one knew about it. Cause now some one can steal ur iphone, jailbreak it, download ifile and easily get to all the info. And im pretty sure it only tracks you when you use the map app?


You also have to take into effect how 'off' some of the points are... I dont think it would be admissible in court.
I'l just have to remember not to use the map's app the next time im trying to get to that spot in the forest where i bury my victims. You also have to know that the cell phone companies have all this data anyways so the police theoretically could get it through them.

Actually it tracks you even when your not in the maps application.
As long as your connected to a data signal, it triangulates your position based on your connection to cell-phone towers and stores it in a file.
There is an app on the jailbreak store right now that will actually take the data from the file, and make a small map of everywhere you have gone.

The only way to stop it is to A) Sue apple B) Turn off all data connections/location services on your iPhone.

Ooooo that makes more sense why everyone gives a damn, whats the app called?

Originally Posted by captiannick

Ooooo that makes more sense why everyone gives a damn, whats the app called?

petewarden/iPhoneTracker @ GitHub

This gives a new meaning to the sentence "someone is watching us".