It's news because it took so damn long. Apple has been having a lot of problems getting the white version out there. Apparently there were some problems with the sensors due to the white shell letting through more light or something. In any case it's rare for Apple to have an actual production problem (one that's not made up out of whole cloth by "analysts") for this long . Hence, news.
Just FYI, all data on the iPhone is backed up when you sync (including caches, etc.) This is so if you replace your phone and you restore from backup it is in exactly the same state as your previous one.
It would seem the laws in your country are broken, not really a problem with the phone. No amount of encryption is going to protect you in a police state.
Speaking of "semantics". Did you notice how the summary's title describes the "ruckus" over Apple's collecting of users' location data?
Any other company and it would have been a "scandal" or an "outrage" but because it's Apple, it's a "ruckus" as if the people complaining about their whereabouts being tracked were just a pesky bunch of kids who were beating pots and pans together and bothering the adults who were just trying to do what's best for everyone.
"Ruckus", indeed.
1) if this were any company other than Apple (maybe MS) there wouldn't have been 7 stories on the front page in a week (so far.) 2) no one is being tracked, it's a local cache of data. 3) this information was publicly available for a long time, it was in fact even in a book.
The data is only logged locally to a disk that is 16Gb minimum, the consolidated.db file on my phone is 3.5 Mb for a years worth of data. They could save location data for years and barely break the surface, logging in this case is cheap.
No, it's a cache. Think of it as a sort of DNS cache: this cell-id points to this location. Eventually you would have to do the lookup again because you have no control over the cell-id's, so you expire data in the cache. Of course the cached data can also be used in other ways, which the patent describes. Big surprise: data can be mined.
Yes like any information you have, you have to protect it, what's your point ? If you gain access to someone's phone or pc the location history is going to be the least of your worries.
I don't understand, nearly everything is cached using sqlite databases because they are so easy to use and Apple would know when entries are expired, there is no option to empty the cache manually.
"the network information can include transmitter identifiers (IDs). For example, Cell IDs can be tracked and recorded. The Cell IDs can be mapped to corresponding cell tower locations which can be used to provide estimated position coordinates of the location aware device. When a location history is requested by a user or application (e.g., through an API), the transmitter IDs can be translated to position coordinates of the location aware device which can be reverse geocoded to map locations for display on a map view or for other purposes."
In other words cell-id and location is cached, then later when you are at a visited location instead of doing the expensive triangulation you hit the cache to get the location.
What cell towers didn't do was log on the device side, a detailed record of your lat/long movements, which can then be tied to businesses, paths of travel, personal interests, spending patterns, and your daily comings and goings.
They do on their side though. For an example see here. (Thanks to FrykD for pointing this out to me in another slashdot discussion.) God knows how they are protecting this data or who has access to it, at least I can take steps to protect my data.
heck, i assumed they logged it on the *CELL TOWER* side of things, not on the phone itself, which is arguably better because at least you can destroy it/prevent it this way. maybe I should be happy?
For the truly paranoid, there's an app (for those who've done a jailbreak) to empty the file regularly : untrackerd.
But if you DIDN'T KNOW THEY WERE DOING THIS then why would you turn it on? Are you saying it should be a matter of course that we encrypt everything? Maybe we should check all of our food for poison before we eat it too, and wear gas masks at work just in case.
To protect your contact database, your call history, your sms history or any data your apps save ? There's a bunch of reasons you would want to encrypt your phone backup, kinda the point of why it's even an option.
I read something just other day about this info being uploaded to Apple every 12 hours. I can't confirm this, but it is possible. If they can remove an app from your phone, how hard do you think it is for them to pull the contents of this file?
False, that's Location Services (which can be turned off.)
It could be accurate to the millimeter and it wouldn't matter, it's only a problem when that information falls into the hands of anyone but the user. That is NOT happening.
Except they aren't tracking anyone. I understand that countries are investigating to protect their citizens, the other two sound like typical litigious americans.
MPEG-LA is now in the position of having to compete against a free alternative, that's probably good enough for most applications.
A free alternative to replace the one everyone has already invested in. Because that worked so well for ogg vorbis (a much closed comparison than your strained Betamax analogy.)
Slashdot Mirror
It's news because it took so damn long. Apple has been having a lot of problems getting the white version out there. Apparently there were some problems with the sensors due to the white shell letting through more light or something. In any case it's rare for Apple to have an actual production problem (one that's not made up out of whole cloth by "analysts") for this long . Hence, news.
"To: XXXXX@gmail.com
From: noreply@delicious.com
Subject: Delicous Data Migration Opt-in Complete
Hi CharlyFoxtrot,
Hooray! Your data can now be moved along with Delicious.
Thanks,
Delicious
--
Originating IP address: 127.0.0.1"
Hey! That's my address !
Well, they do just that for 3 projects through Google Open Source Programs Office.
Conspicuously missing ... Android. Sure, a couple of apps but nothing on a system level.
Just FYI, all data on the iPhone is backed up when you sync (including caches, etc.) This is so if you replace your phone and you restore from backup it is in exactly the same state as your previous one.
I'm actually in the EU, so I'm good thanks :-)
1) Call your congressman, MP or whatever you have in your country.
2) Ask them to make a law
3) ???
4) Peace of mind
It would seem the laws in your country are broken, not really a problem with the phone. No amount of encryption is going to protect you in a police state.
Speaking of "semantics". Did you notice how the summary's title describes the "ruckus" over Apple's collecting of users' location data?
Any other company and it would have been a "scandal" or an "outrage" but because it's Apple, it's a "ruckus" as if the people complaining about their whereabouts being tracked were just a pesky bunch of kids who were beating pots and pans together and bothering the adults who were just trying to do what's best for everyone.
"Ruckus", indeed.
1) if this were any company other than Apple (maybe MS) there wouldn't have been 7 stories on the front page in a week (so far.)
2) no one is being tracked, it's a local cache of data.
3) this information was publicly available for a long time, it was in fact even in a book.
Ruckus sounds about right to me.
The data is only logged locally to a disk that is 16Gb minimum, the consolidated.db file on my phone is 3.5 Mb for a years worth of data. They could save location data for years and barely break the surface, logging in this case is cheap.
No, it's a cache. Think of it as a sort of DNS cache: this cell-id points to this location. Eventually you would have to do the lookup again because you have no control over the cell-id's, so you expire data in the cache. Of course the cached data can also be used in other ways, which the patent describes. Big surprise: data can be mined.
All of them.
Yes like any information you have, you have to protect it, what's your point ? If you gain access to someone's phone or pc the location history is going to be the least of your worries.
I don't understand, nearly everything is cached using sqlite databases because they are so easy to use and Apple would know when entries are expired, there is no option to empty the cache manually.
"the network information can include transmitter identifiers (IDs). For example, Cell IDs can be tracked and recorded. The Cell IDs can be mapped to corresponding cell tower locations which can be used to provide estimated position coordinates of the location aware device. When a location history is requested by a user or application (e.g., through an API), the transmitter IDs can be translated to position coordinates of the location aware device which can be reverse geocoded to map locations for display on a map view or for other purposes."
In other words cell-id and location is cached, then later when you are at a visited location instead of doing the expensive triangulation you hit the cache to get the location.
What cell towers didn't do was log on the device side, a detailed record of your lat/long movements, which can then be tied to businesses, paths of travel, personal interests, spending patterns, and your daily comings and goings.
They do on their side though. For an example see here. (Thanks to FrykD for pointing this out to me in another slashdot discussion.)
God knows how they are protecting this data or who has access to it, at least I can take steps to protect my data.
heck, i assumed they logged it on the *CELL TOWER* side of things, not on the phone itself, which is arguably better because at least you can destroy it/prevent it this way. maybe I should be happy?
For the truly paranoid, there's an app (for those who've done a jailbreak) to empty the file regularly : untrackerd.
But if you DIDN'T KNOW THEY WERE DOING THIS then why would you turn it on? Are you saying it should be a matter of course that we encrypt everything? Maybe we should check all of our food for poison before we eat it too, and wear gas masks at work just in case.
To protect your contact database, your call history, your sms history or any data your apps save ? There's a bunch of reasons you would want to encrypt your phone backup, kinda the point of why it's even an option.
I read something just other day about this info being uploaded to Apple every 12 hours. I can't confirm this, but it is possible. If they can remove an app from your phone, how hard do you think it is for them to pull the contents of this file?
False, that's Location Services (which can be turned off.)
That's for location services, which can be turned off. It's been established that that has nothing to do with the file in question.
Correction, the location database is stored naked on the PC/Mac syncing side, so the problem is affecting PCs too (any malware can take a look...).
PEBCAK: encryption of the backup can be turned on by checking a single checkbox.
It could be accurate to the millimeter and it wouldn't matter, it's only a problem when that information falls into the hands of anyone but the user. That is NOT happening.
That's purely semantics. It is a cache of visited locations stored in a database, that database can be queried in the way the patent describes.
Except they aren't tracking anyone. I understand that countries are investigating to protect their citizens, the other two sound like typical litigious americans.
MPEG-LA is now in the position of having to compete against a free alternative, that's probably good enough for most applications.
A free alternative to replace the one everyone has already invested in. Because that worked so well for ogg vorbis (a much closed comparison than your strained Betamax analogy.)