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Apple Can Extract Texts, Photos, Contacts From Locked iPhones

Posted by timothy on from the as-a-public-service dept.

Trailrunner7 (1100399) writes "If law enforcement gets hold of your locked iPhone and has some interest in its contents, Apple can pull all kinds of content from the device, including texts, contacts, photos and videos, call history and audio recordings. The company said in a new document that provides guidance for law enforcement agencies on the kinds of information Apple can provide and what methods can be used to obtain it that if served with a search warrant, officials will help law enforcement agents extract specific application-specific data from a locked iOS device. However, that data appears to be limited to information related to Apple apps, such as iMessage, the contacts and the camera. Email contents and calendar data can't be extracted, the company said in the guidelines."

7 of 202 comments (clear)

  1. So... cloud access? by Kenja · · Score: 5, Insightful

    All the things listed, are synced to the iCloud. Sounds to me like they are not accessing the phone, but the contents of the cloud server, which have push/pull access to selected apps. Wonder if this is true if you disable cloud access or simply don't sign into it.

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    1. Re:So... cloud access? by VortexCortex · · Score: 4, Insightful

      So what exactly constitutes a "user generated active file"? Some kind of temp file kept open as long as an app is "open"? And what does "open" mean, really?

      Look at the source code and see. Oh, right. Never mind, it's proprietary and thus 4200% fucked.

      Add this question to your list: How do you even trust them to be telling the truth with national security gag letters now standard?

    2. Re:So... cloud access? by BasilBrush · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It would do me as much good as it did 99.99% of OpenSSL users.

      Actually 100% of OpenSSL users, for several years.

  2. Once again, Apple iOS security is a sham by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    If you want real, audited & certified security, get a blackberry.

    Based on sales for the last few years, it looks like the market just doesn't care about security. As people put more & more of their life on their phone, you might think people would care.

    Sad.

  3. Another "threat post" blog entry. by Bill_the_Engineer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How much is threat post paying timothy to drive up their traffic with these half ass stories?

    The summary fails to mention that the phone must be in their possession and the both the phone and the search warrant must be delivered to Apple's headquarters which is the only place Apple will perform the extraction.

    If anything I applaud Apple for both publicly disclosing their policy for dealing with law enforcement and requiring a search warrant with more detail than "suspect's phone". They require the model number, phone number, serial of IEMI number and FCC ID number.

    --
    These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
  4. Re:News? by Sockatume · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The page states that they can only access information which is not encrypted, and is "active", whatever that means. Reading between the lines, it seems they can get at information that's currently in RAM.

    --
    No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
  5. Re:Pro Tip: by VortexCortex · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Got Root?

    If the answer was ever anything other than "Yes" then you don't own shit.