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Many Top iPhone Apps Collect Unique Device ID

Posted by Soulskill on from the your-computer-is-broadcasting-a-UDID dept.

An anonymous reader writes "It looks like iPhone users are not immune to the types of data leaks recently discovered on the Android platform. Researchers looked at the top free applications available from the App Store and discovered that '68% of these applications were transmitting UDIDs to servers under the application vendor's control each time the application is launched.' The iPhone's Unique Device ID, or UDID, cannot be changed, nor can its transmission be disabled by the user. The full paper is available in PDF form."

2 of 194 comments (clear)

  1. Re:What's That? by TheGeneration · · Score: 5, Informative

    The UID identifies the iPhone within XCode. It enables things like authentication without passwords for (trivial) applications. For example if I have an app with profiles, and that app is only usable on the iPhone, there is no need for a password or login, I can just use the UID.

    Big whoop.

    --


    The Generation
    I'd say something witty here, but I'm not that bright.
  2. Pandora by Culture20 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Yeah, I noticed that with Pandora after my friend sold me his old phone (he had it wiped first). I downloaded Pandora and started screwing around with his stations because I thought they were just default stations Pandora gave me. They were basing access on the UDID.