Your iPhone is secretly tracking everywhere you've been. Two security researches (one an ex-Apple employee) discovered that Apple has been collecting data by cell tower triangulation (Location Services does not need to be on) since the release of iOS 4.0 (iphone4), and without user's permission. Article source from Gizmodo.com. Not to be paranoid, but we must seriously ask ourselves these questions without assuming that these actions have no sinister undertones. 1. Why secretly collect data? Don't tell me it's for providing better service. Keeping customers in the dark about a privacy-violating practice insinuates malicious intent. Google collects data by offering free services in exchange, and they sell it to corporations. Apple has made it clear in the past that they respect privacy and do not sell info to corporations. If this is true, who are they selling it to? TPTB? Maybe Apple is sucking the gov't tit now like our media. 2. There are multiple fusion centers in all 50 of the United States as well as the European Union. Their primary function is to collect every single thing they can on every person, including how many times you've flushed your toilet. Could Apple as well as other large tech companies be working in collusion with gov't to data-mine and profile potential dissenters? If any of you have read Orwell, we are seriously in an "Orwellian" society. I love technology, but how long will we let our priority for entertainment exceed our priority for principle? Before you realize it, there will be an all-seeing-eye in your house.
Apple are welcome to know how many times I've flushed my toilet. Just once so far today. If they can somehow hurt me with that info I'll be too interested watching it happen to care.
But we don't know where the file is stored so we cant verifiy it ourselves. I'm more worried about ATT, Verizon and Sprint making a copy of ever email, text message, and web page accessed over their network and turning it over to the NSA...
article about it on MacRumors and Engadget too and Ars, probably every tech blog/site by now http://www.macrumors.com/2011/04/20/researchers-disclose-iphone-and-ipad-location-tracking-privacy-issues/
This is just something small for the media to get fussed about, then it'll pass and nobody will care.
Well me being a MAJOR conspiracy theorist, I can't say I'm not suprised (I knew about something similar back in 2006 with the whole at&t/NSA centers). The question that gets me is WHY? Why does the govt. need info on almost every single person walking around with a cellphone?! For our safety??? That's what they'll tell us... Sacrifice liberty for safety and you deserve neither - Ben Franklin https://www.eff.org/issues/nsa-spying FTA: “this isn’t a wiretap, it’s a country-tap.”
It's OK because Apple said they were going to do this in June of last year- http://www.macrumors.com/2010/06/21/apple-updates-privacy-policy-to-disclose-real-time-location-tracking-of-devices/ Perhaps people should read the terms and conditions they're agreeing to before mindlessly slamming the "I Agree" button. If you don't want to be tracked, don't use any kind of cell phone, computer, anything connected to the internet, or any other piece of electronics capable of storing any kind of data.
This is good to know at least someone out there cares about me and what I'm doing with my time. Here I thought I was all alone. When we get personal sentry robots in every home, like iRobot or Portal 2, then I'll be worried about who's watching and monitoring.
Here's a GREAT documentary on the NSA and at&t's spying techniques... http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/homefront/view/ Some crazy stuff!
