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Apple's iPhone <eta: and other smartphones?> tracks users every movement

It's covered by the T&Cs according to the Beeb.

This isn't a legal issue it's a marketing issue. They've cocked up; people won't like it; those people are customers. Bad form.
 
Refused as fuck said:
I know all of this looks bad but Sunray hasn't yet explained how it's actually all Google's fault and Apple are completely innocent of all charges. And I reserve judgement until s/he does.
Click to expand...

I resent the accusation,

Its in the T&C that nobody reads. I knew this was happening because I signed up to the 'where is my phone' system which clearly has to track that sort of shit to answer the question.

Not a great idea to be doing this, or if your going to do it, do it strongly encrypted so nobody can tell.

Simple fix is to buy another phone, there are plenty of other ones to choose.
 
It shows up T&Cs tbh. Reading them in light of this, then you could read them in that way. However, would anyone predict this from reading the T&Cs? If so then it would have been published before.

Bloody lawyers. :mad:
 
Winot said:
It's covered by the T&Cs according to the Beeb.

This isn't a legal issue it's a marketing issue. They've cocked up; people won't like it; those people are customers. Bad form.
Click to expand...

Yup, there's already a great deal of paranoia out there about mobile phones being used to track people this will have a corrosive effect on Apple unless they get out in front of this story...the anti Apple brigade must be creaming their pants with joy!
 
Ts&Cs aren't that relevant here, and to be honest they're an area that needs looking at in law. The fact that people generally just click through Ts&Cs without paying any attention to them has been acknowledged in some cases already, and if there was a serious attempt to sue, it may well not count as consent to a practice to have ticked a box at the end of a fifty page document.
 
Sunray said:
I resent the accusation,

Its in the T&C that nobody reads. I knew this was happening because I signed up to the 'where is my phone' system which clearly has to track that sort of shit to answer the question.

Not a great idea to be doing this, or if your going to do it, do it strongly encrypted so nobody can tell.

Simple fix is to buy another phone, there are plenty of other ones to choose.
Click to expand...

I agree with you, tbh. iPhones are shit. Your post reads as if you've just watched your champion take a pummeling and embarass himself by screaming for mercy. So have a hug.

(((Sunray)))
 
sim667 said:
I bet this happens on other devices too, it's just not been leaked yet
Click to expand...

Well the people that found this said they haven't found it on other phones although it may be possible that other phone OS makers just use a different system for logging this type of data?
 
As someone who on most weekends drinks too much to remember their whereabouts, let me be the first to thank Apple for the ease they have given me to find out where I have been spending my time.
 
iOS 4.3.2 Software Update

This update contains improvements and other bug fixes, including:

- Fixes an issue that occasionally caused blank or frozen video during a FaceTime call
- Fixes an issue that prevented some international users from connecting to 3G networks on iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G
- The latest security updates

Products compatible with this software update:
• iPhone 4 (GSM model)
• iPhone 3GS
• iPad 2
• iPad
• iPod touch (4th generation)
• iPod touch (3rd generation)

For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website:
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222>

Interestingly if this is an update regarding this and the security issues are what this is talking about then they will need to make the older Iphones 3 2 and original updated to the latest Ios too as otherwise they'd still be in breech of any legislation relating to it.

So it may actually be a bonus to those with older handsets this has been discovered.
 
update t&c's said:
(b) Location Data. Apple and its partners and licensees may provide certain services through your iPhone that rely upon location information. To provide and improve these services, where available, Apple and its partners and licensees may transmit, collect, maintain, process and use your location data, including the real-time geographic location of your iPhone, and location search queries. The location data and queries collected by Apple are collected in a form that does not personally identify you and may be used by Apple and its partners and licensees to provide and improve location-based products and services. By using any location-based services on your iPhone, you agree and consent to Apple's and its partners' and licensees' transmission, collection, maintenance, processing and use of your location data and queries to provide and improve such products and services. You may withdraw this consent at any time by going to the Location Services setting on your iPhone and either turning off the global Location Services setting or turning off the individual location settings of each location-aware application on your iPhone. Not using these location features will not impact the non location-based functionality of your iPhone. When using third party applications or services on the iPhone that use or provide location data, you are subject to and should review such third party's terms and privacy policy on use of location data by such third party applications or services.
Click to expand...

Nothing in here about storing a log file of your locations tho...
 
Wasn't for my phone plugged in last night...

as it being plugged in daily I would have thought I'd have noticed you know using the pc and phone and all...
 
people steal phones and computers to sell them on and make a quick buck, not to trawl through your info and find out where you are, if they were that intelligent they wouldn't be robbing computers, they'd be siphoning off bank accounts, and, I'd be more concerned about the pics of my vag, not that someone was finding out I do phonecalls at the morrisons down the road.
 
US Congress and FCC are now investigating the iPhone tracking:

A hidden feature in the iPhone and iPad operating software that silently tracks consumers’ location has caught the attention of the FCC and Congress.

An FCC official told POLITICO the agency is looking into the matter. On Wednesday, a study was released that found Apple’s popular devices were periodically tracking and storing users’ longitude and latitude coordinates along with time stamps.


Separately, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) fired off a letter to Apple late Wednesday to question why the Cupertino, Calif.-based company included the feature in its software in the first place.

“The existence of this information — stored in an unencrypted format — raises serious privacy concerns,” said Franken, who leads the Senate Judiciary Committee’s new privacy panel, in a letter to CEO Steve Jobs. He later emphasized the information — which could be “accurate to 50 meters or less” — also applies to iPhones and iPads owned by children, and could easily be exploited by “criminals and bad actors.”

Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, later blasted Apple in a statement — and signaled he would not only press the company for answers, but would continue work on “comprehensive online privacy legislation” that could further address the issue.

“I’m deeply disturbed by this report,” Inslee said, noting that “current law fails to ensure consumers are protected from privacy violations,” and often don’t know when their information has been breached.

“I intend to ask Apple and the federal agencies charged with oversight some very direct questions to understand the frequency and extent of this data collection and the use, protection and sharing of this sensitive information. This episode, and many others, illustrates the need for enhanced government oversight of data collection activities,” he said.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53500.html
Click to expand...
 
Refused as fuck said:
I agree with you, tbh. iPhones are shit. Your post reads as if you've just watched your champion take a pummeling and embarass himself by screaming for mercy. So have a hug.

(((Sunray)))
Click to expand...

You seem to think I give a fuck about Apple?

I think the iPhone is the best there is, long press droid is a poor fragmented crappy second. Nothing to touch the iPhone UX at the moment. You welcome to your opinion. If you want second best that's fine.

When/if something better comes along I will buy that instead. I look forward to something better than the iPhone 4 because that is going to be an impressive device.

I like owning the best techy kit, thats why I own an iPhone 4, a Core-i7 cpu (over clocked to 4Ghz), SSD hard disk, Raptor hard disks, Razer mice etc.
 
<wonders how many IT departments are currently being instructed to retrieve the data before employees have a chance to wipe it>
 
In this thread:
http://www.urban75.net/vbulletin/threads/346539-Monitoring

I told you all that you were being monitored, and now you're seeing the tip of the iceberg.

Wake UP!!!

Not even Winston Smith had a tracking device attached to him. It may not be 1984, but it's cleverer than that; it's an entertainment limpet attached to you, so you can communicate, play games and be monitored. :(

You will see I'm right, in the end.
 
You don't understand the technical details.

Phone companies are already able to track the location of phones and can provide that information to law enforcement when given a warrant. This tracking happens only on the phone and is not actually sent to anyone.
 
If you were deeply paranoid, you might ask if there were any trojans released in the last year or so that can grab this data. :hmm:
 
Crispy said:
YPhone companies are already able to track the location of phones and can provide that information to law enforcement when given a warrant. This tracking happens only on the phone and is not actually sent to anyone.
Click to expand...
But now Apple have provided a way for anyone with access to the user's iPhone or home computer to track their movements.

Oh, and anyone who has used the downloadable app please note:
To make it less useful for snoops, the spatial and temporal accuracy of the data has been artificially reduced. You can only animate week-by-week even though the data is timed to the second, and if you zoom in you’ll see the points are constrained to a grid, so your exact location is not revealed. The underlying database has no such constraints, unfortunately.

http://petewarden.github.com/iPhoneTracker/
Click to expand...
My female friend is Oz says that her file clearly shows her route to her gym and the places she regularly frequents. It's a stalker/jealous husband/private eye's dream!
 
Apple should immediately - as in right now - offer a simple way for users to instantly opt out of this dodgy secret tracking system.
 
Obnoxiousness said:
In this thread:
http://www.urban75.net/vbulletin/threads/346539-Monitoring

I told you all that you were being monitored, and now you're seeing the tip of the iceberg.

Wake UP!!!

Not even Winston Smith had a tracking device attached to him. It may not be 1984, but it's cleverer than that; it's an entertainment limpet attached to you, so you can communicate, play games and be monitored. :(

You will see I'm right, in the end.
Click to expand...

Entertainment limpet :(

Would be an ace Doctor Who episode! :)
 
I read a comment earlier that suggested this isn't entirely true. They claimed it logs cell ID along with location* and a timestamp - this is used to quickly work out your location from your cell ID without having to do a lookup like Android does. This is different to wholesale tracking of your movements because it only need do it once per cell, i.e. it will log that you have been somewhere once, and when, but not again. I guess the timestamp would be useful to determine when the information might count as out of date.

*I don't know how the iPhone works wrt actual GPS but cell locations typically have an accuracy of ~2000m.
 
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