Volunteer in Spain. Detailed analysis of iPhone location data. After reading Pete Warden’s iPhone Tracker FAQ and the article by Alex Levinson, I wanted to extract the precise location information from the consolidated.db file from my iPhone backups to see exactly how accurate the location data were, as well as to learn how frequently the location was being sampled and saved.
Unfortunately, I had a rather busy week and wasn’t able to get around to it right away. Apple officially responded on Wednesday. My iPhoneTracker Maps. Apple Q&A on gathering and use of location data (Apple Press Release) Petewarden/iPhoneTracker @ GitHub. This open-source application maps the information that your iPhone is recording about your movements.
It doesn't record anything itself, it only displays files that are already hidden on your computer. Download the application Read the FAQ Authors Alasdair Allan (alasdair@babilim.co.uk) @aallan on Twitter Pete Warden (pete@petewarden.com) @petewarden on Twitter This application relies on map tiles from the volunteer-run OpenStreetMap project, so please consider supporting their great work. Download Source.
IPrivacy4IT – Clarinette's blog. Apple, Google Under More Government Privacy Focus. What's Good About iPhone's Location Tracking - Darkreading. The iPhone tracking disclosure this week showcases an unfortunate tendency for device manufacturers to focus excessively on their needs and forget those of their users Over the past week there has been a lot of time spent by seemingly outraged people finding that the iPhone tracks and records the user's location.
The problem, as I see it, is that the file isn’t secure -- not that Apple was misusing the information, but there has yet been no identification of anyone misusing that information yet. Granted, now that folks know it is there, that will likely change. I think the real problem with this capability whether it is found in an Apple or Android device (Android phones have this capability built in as well, and you can generally turn it off) is that it isn’t overt and used for our benefit.
If it were, then it not only could be better protected but we might find the rewards greater than the risks. --Rob Enderle is president and founder of The Enderle Group. Apple, Google summoned to Senate hearing on mobile device privacy. Senator Al Franken (D-MN) has called upon Apple and Google to participate in a hearing with the Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law in order to discuss consumer privacy.
The hearing will take place on May 10 at 10am EDT in Washington, where witnesses from the US Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, Center for Democracy and Technology, and others will talk about what the latest mobile technology means for privacy and the law. “Recent advances in mobile technology have allowed Americans to stay connected like never before and put an astonishing number of resources at our fingertips,” Franken said in a statement. “But the same technology that has given us smartphones, tablets, and cell phones has also allowed these devices to gather extremely sensitive information about users, including detailed records of their daily movements and location. Applesauce. Wendy M Grossman looks at the iPhone tracking 'scandal' and argues that it is just a symptom of a wider problem!
Image: CC-AT-SA Flickr: bojo (Bobbie Johnson) Modern life is full of so many moments when you see an apparently perfectly normal person doing something that not so long ago was the clear sign of a crazy person. They're walking down the street talking to themselves? They're *on the phone*. Steve Jobs On Location Data: "We Don't Track Anyone" Google Android, Apple iPhone geolocation tracking flap: Disclosure is everything. Yes, Apple and Google are recording your geolocation data.
Sen. Kirk calls on Congress to investigate smartphone tracking - The Hill's Twitter Room. Apple & Google Location Tracking: A Breakdown of the Geolocation Crisis. With mounting concerns regarding the privacy of mobile data, two researchers from the United Kingdom stumbled upon a potentially-scary cache of coordinates in the backup archives of their iOS devices earlier this week.
Shortly thereafter, many began to look for a similar data collection system in Google’s Android operating system, which was also evident in backup archives. In the few days that have passed between these discoveries and now, misinformation and accusations have dominated the blogosphere, muddling whatever useless information there is regarding the collection of geolocation information. After taking a step back and observing the situation, let’s dive in and distinguish fact from fiction. Apple’s Location Logs As previously mentioned, two British researchers uncovered evidence that Apple has been caching coordinates in the backup archives of phones around the world. Above, I have posted the map of my movements. No, iPhone location tracking isn’t harmless and here’s why.
Just for @ruskin147 - where #iphonetracker has me in the UK for the last few months... - The Sound of Bill. Apple-patent-reveals-extensive-stalking-plans from gawker.com. Regarding this article: Gizmodo's sensationalism must be working, because I'm commenting.
Let's stop and think for a moment. Apple files a ton of patents, many of which never ACTUALLY become real products or features. Anyone assuming that this is related to the tracking data is falling prey to the confirmation trap. That this patent exists is likely unrelated to the database stored on phones. Sen. Kirk calls on Congress to investigate smartphone tracking - The Hill's Twitter Room. Apple's iPhones and Google's Androids Send Cellphone Location. US senator questions Apple for using phone-tracking software - The Economic Times.
PTI Apr 22, 2011, 11.29am IST WASHINGTON: Concerned over latest research findings that i-Phone and i-Pads have been recording the device's location history, a top American Senator on Thursday shot off a letter to the Apple CEO Steve Jobs, demanding an explanation as to why his company was doing so.
"The existence of this information -- stored in an unencrypted format -- raises serious privacy concerns," Senator Al Franken wrote in his letter to Jobs. "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," Franken said. iPhone revealed to track, log users' locations. You may not know where you’re going in life, but you always know where you’ve been—and so does your iPhone.
According to a story in The Guardian on Wednesday, the iPhone (and the 3G-enabled iPad) keeps a running log of its location and copies that information to your home computer whenever you connect to it. As such, the information—complete with latitude, longitude, and timestamps—can be easily reconstructed to show a person’s movements. Larry Magid: The Scary Implications of the iPhone Tracking Everywhere You Go (Video) Last Thursday I took the 4:00 PM Megabus from Boston to New York. I knew where I was going as did a few of my friends. AT&T has a record of the cell towers I accessed along the way, but they're not allowed to disclose that information without a court order.
However, thanks to a tracking file stored on my iPhone and a recently released piece of software, anyone with access to my phone or my computer can find out exactly where I've been. Tracking software was able to follow me from Boston to New York. The software can zoom in for far more detail. My Life According to the iPhone's Secret Tracking Log - Alexis Madrigal - Technology. I know I should be upset. Apple was secretly creating a log of all my travels by triangulating the nearest cell tower to my location.
They've been doing it for a year and storing the data in an unencrypted file, and no one knows exactly for what purpose. "Okay, Apple, why is an iPhone log file recording lat/long location coordinates? ACLU of Northern California : Your iPhone Knows Where You Were Last Night. Who Else Knows? Votre iPhone enregistre vos déplacements à votre insu ! Cool or Creepy? Your iPhone and iPad Are Keeping Track of Everywhere You Go, And You Can See It - Kashmir Hill - The Not-So Private Parts. iPhone secretly tracks user location, say researchers. News April 20, 2011 01:47 PM ET. Secret iPhone Feature Tracks Owners' Whereabouts.
Cellphones Track Your Every Move, and You May Not Even Know. iPhone Tracker application (plus a 32 bit version) If you haven’t heard yet, your iPhone creates a record of all the places you go, and the information is stored in a database on your computer whenever you sync with iTunes. See here for more information, and an application that will show you a map with all the locations you’ve ever visited with your iPhone: (Note: For a version that works on 32-bit Core Duo Macs, and one that runs on OS X 10.5 Leopard, see further down.
For a Windows PC version, see right at the bottom of this post.) Here’s an example screenshot of the iPhone Tracker application: Screenshot of the iPhone Tracker app.