Police Using Apple iOS Tracking Data For Forensics

Several readers have sent in follow-up articles to Wednesday's news that iPhone location data was being tracked and stored. First, it seems Android shares a similar problem, though the file containing the location data is "only accessible on devices that have been rooted and opened up to installation of unsigned apps." Developer Magnus Eriksson has created an app to flush this data. Next: the iPhone tracking file is not new, just in a different place than it used to be. Reader overThruster then points out a CNet story indicating that law enforcement has been aware of this file for some time, and has used it in a forensics context. This story is a growing concern for Apple, particularly now that Senator Al Franken (PDF) and Rep. Ed Markey (PDF) have both written letters to Steve Jobs demanding details about the location tracking. Finally, PCMag explains how to view the location data present on your iPhone, should you so desire.

Comments

Whoa, whoa.

[tripleevenfall]

Some blogger told us yesterday there was no reason to panic, and this data was perfectly safe.

Re:Whoa, whoa.

[causality]

Well, keep in mind that there is a difference between being asked and being told to do something. If a cop asks you:

"Can I see your cellphone?"

Then, you're under no obligation to answer in the affirmative. However, if he says:

"Hand over your cellphone."

That's a demand and you're legally required (with some exceptions) to comply. Although cops are well-trained and they know how to phrase a question such that it sounds like a demand:

"I'm going to take a look at your cellphone. Would you hand it to me?"

The point is that when talking to the police, stay calm and listen to exactly what they're saying. If you're not clear if something is a question or a demand, then ask for clarification.

I can talk to elderly people who remember a time when cops were not state-sponsored thugs who rigorously searched for every possible way to nail you with something. Seriously... what kind of psychotic assholes thought it would be a great idea to train cops to request optional cooperation in a manner that sounds like a mandatory demand? What kind of world do people like this hope to live in?

Even if I were the undisputed dictator for life, an autocrat with absolute power, a sovereign whose orders are always obeyed without question and without hestiation, a ruler without rival, the man in charge of everything ... I still would not want to live in a dictatorial police state. I still don't want to be surrounded by that kind of misery and disharmony. I especially wouldn't want to be even partially responsible for it. No affirmation of my ego would be enough to make it worthwhile.

In some ways I can easily understand the minds and spirits of power-hungry people. In some ways I can easily grasp why the USA is becoming a police state. I see the forces at work driving both. They're the same type of perversion and corruption that has befallen every great nation. It's what possessed every bloodthirsty mass-murdering tyrant throughout history, and by that I refer to those who had motives other than self-defense. The history books usually refer to them as "conquerors" with a certain awe. As the saying goes, if you kill a man you're a murderer; kill many and you're a conqueror.

But in other ways, I really don't understand it at all. I mostly want to be left alone to live my life as I see fit. Taking responsibility for my life, not allowing my decisions to harm others, and respecting the freedom of others to live as they see fit are the only obligations I truly recognize. Yet for those who view life as one gigantic struggle for control of others, it's just a matter of who's holding the reins. Each would like to be that person or a member of that group. Often, this is even portrayed as normal and is rarely questioned. As common as it is, as predictable as its machinations are, this mentality is completely alien to me. I know it only through outside observation. Am I in a small minority here? Am I really?

If so, cops who find petty deception and intimidation useful, not so they can solve some heinous crime and bring a dangerous criminal to justice, but so they can brag to their buddies about how many additional charges they added to some poor schmuck who was a threat to no one ... well that's just the beginning. They think they're running the show because they can push civilians around? They're dogs on a leash to the truly powerful, obedient and loyal so long as their "appetites" are satisfied.

What a shame. We could have a much more beautiful world than this.

Re:Senator Al Franken

[wall0645]

I voted for him in 2008, because he wasn't GOP and I wanted Obama to have a majority in the Senate. Little did I know he would be one of the biggest supporters of Net Neutrality. I am incredibly happy with my vote and not only can I say "Senator Al Franken" with a straight face, I can say it with pride when I say "I voted for Senator Al Franken, one of the best Senators currently in office."

Re:Not so similar

[Anonymous Coward]

Then why can I type in the BSSID (MAC address) of my WiFi router into http://samy.pl/androidmap/ and via google it will tell me exactly where it is?

Every time my Android phone connects to my router at home it uses 3G data just before doing so. Whether or not the phone's recording the info locally, it sure is sending it to Google.

If if was just kept locally that'd be one thing, but it's going much further and telling a third party the co-ords. That's much worse than what Apple's doing.