iPhone/iPad Users, Steve Jobs knows where you are!

[TrainableMan]

iPhones & iPads running iOS 4 record their GPS location up to 100 times a day and store up to a years data in an unencrypted file. No proof as to whether this info is sent to Apple or not at this point.

Article
&
Source

 

[catilley1092]

I just got through reading an article on that myself. Like the article (on MSN) stated, if it were Google, everyone would be screaming for blood.

Apple has tons of cash, more than likely, this will end up being swept under the rug. But it may very well cost Apple the loss of business, because of the publicity. I would never want to carry a device that "tracks" me everywhere I go. This is one reason that I always turn my cell phone off when I leave home, because all (recently built) cell phones has GPS tracking devices built in. Only when I need it, I turn it on.

Cell phone records have convicted & exonerated accused offenders in court, by GPS (location) records. This is nothing new. But the way Apple carried it out is what's in question.

It's not just Apple, they just happened to be the one caught this time.

Cat

 

[TrainableMan]

Just make a little aluminum foil hat for your phone and it should be fine

 

[Ian]

Interesting... I wonder what the data is used for? The phone companies will have a record of your location anyway, so it must be something that Apple use (or intend to use) in an app/advertising.

Just make a little aluminum foil hat for your phone and it should be fine

It may even improve the signal of the iPhone 4 at the same time

 

[Nibiru2012]

This is one reason that I always turn my cell phone off when I leave home, because all (recently built) cell phones has GPS tracking devices built in. Only when I need it, I turn it on.

If you didn't know, even if the phone is "turned off" and the battery is still in it, it still sends a little signal all the time. The only sure method to avoid tracking is to take the battery out of the cell phone.

 

[TrainableMan]

Possible Solution posted:
http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_new...-disable-your-iphones-creepy-tracking-feature

 

[etalmar]

All cellphones come with two types of built-in surveillance/tracking devices: Transponders that communicate with the military's semi-commercialized system of Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. [Edit: RFID Chip]

These devices will allow both the government as well as the private sector to identify the precise location and track the exact movements of each and every cellphone user, no matter where they go. Even if you power the phone down, it is still pulsing its location twice a minute. In 1992, the president of Motorola stated in a formal congressional deposition that "All cellphones have transponders. It's part of how they work, as they have to 'ping' the tower for a signal."

 

[Thrax]

No regular ol' cellphone (smart or otherwise) has an RFID tag. If they did, you'd be able to do neat things with them like swipe a passport, swipe a train ticket, buy things, store your drivers license, etc. (Edit: Similar to an NFC chip, but for non-sensitive information--I just tossed passport in as an example).

RFID tags are also only good out to about 2 feet. Useless for tracking purposes.

 

[etalmar]

RFID could be in all cell phones by 2010

All cell phones will come packed with an RFID chip by next summer — giving your phone the possibility of also becoming the keys to your car or house.

http://www.zdnet.com/news/rfid-could-be-in-all-cell-phones-by-2010/315292

http://www.rfid-weblog.com/50226711/rfid_in_every_cell_phone_by_2010.php

http://radio-weblogs.com/0105910//2004/07/19.html

 

[etalmar]

RFID tags are also only good out to about 2 feet. Useless for tracking purposes.

"An RFID tag was scanned at a distance of 69 feet, and that was back in 2005, the possible reading distance now is probably much greater than that."

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-blockkill-RFID-chips/

 

[Fire cat]

Google does it with Android as well, by the way... But they actually send the data to Google.

 

[Thrax]

And it's completely optional. The user is free to turn it off.

 

[Core]

If there's "no proof as to whether this info is sent to Apple or not", then why does the title claim that "Steve Jobs knows where you are"?