(Image Source: Wirefresh)
BY KELSEY WAANANEN
ANCHOR CHRISTINA
HARTMAN
You're watching tech global video
news analysis from Newsy.
Never go anywhere without your
iPhone? Maybe that’s not such a good thing.Two UK
"So I started poking around inside the backups on the mac. And I actually stumbled across a direct recall that's called locationD. And I thought, that's looks interesting. So I had to poke around in there and I came across something called consolidated.db which was full of latitudes and longitudes and timestamps and cell IDs..."
From there, the researchers found whenever a user connects their Apple iOS 4 device to a computer, the location information is uploaded through iTunes. But what does this mean for the millions of people with the iPhone 4 or iPad 3G? Is Big Brother watching? TIME’s Techland says - no.
“The developers point out that the data being collected doesn't appear to be sent anywhere...”
But just because the information isn’t being directly sent to anyone doesn’t mean its inaccessible,says the blog 9 to 5 Mac.
“This may not be problematic for regular Joes, but ...If you’re a high-ranked executive in a corporation, a celebrity or some kind or a VIP, someone could steal your computer and plot your location history to determine where you live and work, your daily routine and more. From there, thieves could plan on breaking into your house while you’re away.”
So why is Apple tracking this information and why did they start with iOS 4? So far Apple isn’t saying --but iLounge notes when Apple moved away from Skyhook, a geo-location system - they might have needed to develop another way to provide the same information to customers…
"—it appears likely that iOS 4 devices are relying on this internal database to provide users with approximate location data even when no such data would normally be available."
One blogger for GigaOm says--- this is no big deal.
“As you can tell from the screenshot of my location data included in this article, I’m not particularly concerned about this data being out there, but I tend to lean towards the open and trusting end of the scale when it comes to information sharing.”
A Gizmodo blogger feels uneasy about Apple’s actions.
“Until Apple stops doing this, or explains why they are doing it, I don't feel safe. I feel weird having all this data that I don't want recorded on my iPhone, and so do others."
"So I started poking around inside the backups on the mac. And I actually stumbled across a direct recall that's called locationD. And I thought, that's looks interesting. So I had to poke around in there and I came across something called consolidated.db which was full of latitudes and longitudes and timestamps and cell IDs..."
From there, the researchers found whenever a user connects their Apple iOS 4 device to a computer, the location information is uploaded through iTunes. But what does this mean for the millions of people with the iPhone 4 or iPad 3G? Is Big Brother watching? TIME’s Techland says - no.
“The developers point out that the data being collected doesn't appear to be sent anywhere...”
But just because the information isn’t being directly sent to anyone doesn’t mean its inaccessible,says the blog 9 to 5 Mac.
“This may not be problematic for regular Joes, but ...If you’re a high-ranked executive in a corporation, a celebrity or some kind or a VIP, someone could steal your computer and plot your location history to determine where you live and work, your daily routine and more. From there, thieves could plan on breaking into your house while you’re away.”
So why is Apple tracking this information and why did they start with iOS 4? So far Apple isn’t saying --but iLounge notes when Apple moved away from Skyhook, a geo-location system - they might have needed to develop another way to provide the same information to customers…
"—it appears likely that iOS 4 devices are relying on this internal database to provide users with approximate location data even when no such data would normally be available."
One blogger for GigaOm says--- this is no big deal.
“As you can tell from the screenshot of my location data included in this article, I’m not particularly concerned about this data being out there, but I tend to lean towards the open and trusting end of the scale when it comes to information sharing.”
A Gizmodo blogger feels uneasy about Apple’s actions.
“Until Apple stops doing this, or explains why they are doing it, I don't feel safe. I feel weird having all this data that I don't want recorded on my iPhone, and so do others."
Finally, The BBC notes - Apple actually told users about this - in the terms of use.
“...although the practice is not explicitly flagged-up, it appears to be covered in the company's terms of use.‘We may collect information such as occupation, language, zip code, area code, unique device identifier, location, and the time zone where an Apple product is used so that we can better understand customer behaviour and improve our products, services, and advertising’”
The two researchers have developed a program which visualizes the information collected on the iPhone.They’ve made it available to the public and we’ve linked to it in the transcript.
“...although the practice is not explicitly flagged-up, it appears to be covered in the company's terms of use.‘We may collect information such as occupation, language, zip code, area code, unique device identifier, location, and the time zone where an Apple product is used so that we can better understand customer behaviour and improve our products, services, and advertising’”
The two researchers have developed a program which visualizes the information collected on the iPhone.They’ve made it available to the public and we’ve linked to it in the transcript.
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Transcript by Newsy.
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