[persistentcookie]

I would have advertised this as a feature from the start.

[jeffm23]

Just saw some nice lady from CNET on MSNBC; they think it's a big deal. But the nice lady's comments seemed to imply to me that she wasn't really clear on just how one syncs an iPhone...

On a somewhat more serious note, and I don't mean to disparage anyone above, but the "I have nothing to hide" response to potential privacy issues really makes me nervous. I think one should be concerned about infringements on one's privacy (such as it is anymore) irrespective of one's personal history. There's a principle involved, even if it's only rarely observed in practice. Myself, I have no secrets; I'll talk about anything in my life, even though there are incidents that I'm less than thrilled about discussing. But I prefer to be asked about them, y'know?

But like I said, and more relevant to this article, privacy questions, at least on the more mundane data in your life (e.g., where you've shopped), are pretty much moot, and our whole concept of "privacy" needs to change.

[jeffm23]

dbag65, on 20 April 2011 - 10:46 AM, said:

andyland1, on 20 April 2011 - 10:42 AM, said:

dbag65, on 20 April 2011 - 10:37 AM, said:

I want to know how my iPhone went to Vegas without me. How dare it.

My data does nail Atlanta as where most of my activity occours but zoomed in it's flat out wrong as to where I spend most of my time.

Hey, mine went there without me, too!

Actually the app shows it was just NW of Vegas last June. And this iPhone4 is a replacement from the Apple Store from when my original had a weird failure a few months ago.

Strange...

Mine's not a replacement, It's a release day purchase. Maybe they originally shipped from there. Odd thing is, it appears to have moved around a bit while in NW Vegas.

This is fascinating. How many iPhones went to Vegas? Were they all there at the same time? Was there some kind of party?

[jcwelch]

Exactly what did people think was happening with low-level frameworks like CoreLocation et al. Did that location management stuff happen magically?

No.

Whether or not you should encrypt your backups aside, if someone gets unlimited access to your phone, or your computer, you have far, FAR worse problems than OMG, THEY KNOW WHERE I WAS AS OF MY LAST IPHONE BACKUP! AAAAH!

Apple could, and should be more clear about what the file does, what it's for, etc. But this is not freakout material.

If a device knows where you are all the time, it *has* to store that information somewhere. There's no choice, it has to cache it for that info to be of any use in a practical situation. If it's storing it, then when iTunes does a FULL backup, well, it's going to back that data up. none of this, not one bit is surprising or should be.

[TheFLP]

Works with my iPad 3G. As I expected, it does not require an active data plan.

I just bought it used from a guy in New York, and if the track is accurate I oughta be able to trace its trip through the USPS.

This post has been edited by TheFLP: 20 April 2011 - 11:07 AM

[thomqi]

-

This post has been edited by thomqi: 20 April 2011 - 11:18 AM

[artpease]

Hmm, mine went to North Las Vegas too. I haven't been there for over 20 years...

I also had no idea cell towers covered so much area. I have dots 25 miles from from where I have never been in my local area.

[qualla]

I like the idea -- as long as it is not shared or accessible without my permission (I don't mind Apple for debugging - with the same proviso). I was disappointed when I tried to run the mapper. "You can’t open the application “iPhoneTracker” because it’s not supported on this type of Mac." Macbook, 10.6.7 -- I wonder what I'm missing.

[Kate]

Just ran the app after downloading. It is tracking my iPad, not iPhone. I've only had the iPad for a month -+. Anyone figure how to switch from phone to pad to phone. What do the colors of the dots mean? Very interesting stuff here. If I get kidnapped, or lost on a hike, I hope they find my warm body with breaths of life still present. :-)

Read in the FAQ how to find different device info.

This post has been edited by Kate: 20 April 2011 - 11:39 AM

[SirNobleKnight]

The app never did function on my machine, I think it might be because I have my backups encrypted

[simon_w]

I fail to see what the problem is. This sort of log is standard for every GPS device. Sure, some companies make it a bit harder to access the location log, but that GPS in your car has a nice log of every GPS co-ordinate it has been to, not just cell tower triangulation.

[FurriousG]

Not a big deal.

Most data on your computer and phone are stored without your consent or any warning labels (not sure what kind of warning labels occur in say, Windows, when I use Office--example please?).

Most data on your computer is not encrypted and is available for anyone with access to your computer.

I've seen people with 10+ years of email on their computer. Mbox isn't encrypted and that means 10+ years of email are available to anyone with access to your phone (if you use email) or your computer.

Same goes for browser history, caches, office files, et. al. Apple has treated location data the same as nearly every company treats data: as the user's responsibility.

Moral: don't give your computer or iphone to crackers.

I also look forward to the same expose on nearly every other smart phone.

Dumb story.

[dbag65]

jeffm23, on 20 April 2011 - 10:58 AM, said:

dbag65, on 20 April 2011 - 10:46 AM, said:

andyland1, on 20 April 2011 - 10:42 AM, said:

dbag65, on 20 April 2011 - 10:37 AM, said:

I want to know how my iPhone went to Vegas without me. How dare it.

My data does nail Atlanta as where most of my activity occours but zoomed in it's flat out wrong as to where I spend most of my time.

Hey, mine went there without me, too!

Actually the app shows it was just NW of Vegas last June. And this iPhone4 is a replacement from the Apple Store from when my original had a weird failure a few months ago.

Strange...

Mine's not a replacement, It's a release day purchase. Maybe they originally shipped from there. Odd thing is, it appears to have moved around a bit while in NW Vegas.

This is fascinating. How many iPhones went to Vegas? Were they all there at the same time? Was there some kind of party?

There's another one further down.

I think the secret is out at this point. Apple obviously stables the unicorns they get the magic dust from in a disguised strip mall NW of Vegas. The iPhones must have to go there to get sprinkled before they're shipped. For whatever reason, the process obviously requires them to be turned on, so they report that location.

[FurriousG]

Durn. If only I'd read ahead. Chapter seven of my iPhone forensics book (published 2010) notes that the phone tracks cell tower data (page 248). I wonder why information that was so obvious it is in a book from last year was published as a news story on this date?

Hitler's Birthday? Apple Quarterly Reports?

OMG! Hitler's Birthday and Apple's Reports. Apple has some 'splaining to do!