Consolidated.db and why you should be concerned

[HomerJS]

At least those of you who own Iphones and have concerns over privacy.

We all know these phones are capable of giving your location at any given moment but since OS4 a file consolidated.db is on your phone collecting your location information which can be extracted and a history displayed.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/...y-storing-users-location/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Graphical representation looks something like this...

 

[Schadenfroh]

The writing is on the wall, forsake your closed, proprietary system controlled by the whims of a madman, iPhone users. Sell it and join the ranks of the Android Army!

On a more serious note, carriers know where you are already based on logging the distance you are from a specific tower when they log your texts / phone calls / data usage. So, your location is never really private as long as that smartphone is on.

 

[bradley]

Orwell guessed right, just not the part about the general population blithely carrying out and fianancing Big Brother's operations. This is just another normalizing step in a long series.

 

[Codewiz]

I was at a Digital ID World conference. Jeff Jonas talked and I was pumped to hear his talk because I am familiar with his entity analytics solutions.

He pretty much showed that providers have all the data they need to know who you are. What you do, and where you go.

http://jeffjonas.typepad.com/jeff_j...cetime-travel-data-is-analytic-superfood.html

So the iphone just storing the data isn't some earth shattering revelation with implications.....

 

[Drako]

There is a very simple solution to this problem.

 

[gevorg]

This is no concern for average consumers. They will continue to spread their legs wider and bend over.

 

[Codewiz]

There is a very simple solution to this problem.

Use a burner phone and dispose of it regularly(every week)

 

[JockoJohnson]

But this is Apple we are talking about. They are not a corporation. They are your friend. Macs are awesome and put Windows PCs to shame. They are every technophile's wet-dream. How dare someone speak out against anything they do!!! They must be doing for a good reason.

 

[Codewiz]

But this is Apple we are talking about. They are not a corporation. They are your friend. Macs are awesome and put Windows PCs to shame. They are every technophile's wet-dream. How dare someone speak out against anything they do!!! They must be doing for a good reason.

If you can't see the forest from the trees, then I just feel sorry for you. This isn't an apple thing. Yes apple is storing the data on the phone but there are much worse things occurring at the provider level. Read the damn link I posted a few minutes ago. You will realize this shit for apple is nothing in the scheme of things.

 

[Drako]

Use a burner phone and dispose of it regularly(every week)

Or here's an idea. Turn off the freaking phone .

 

[PokerGuy]

The writing is on the wall, forsake your closed, proprietary system controlled by the whims of a madman, iPhone users. Sell it and join the ranks of the Android Army!

On a more serious note, carriers know where you are already based on logging the distance you are from a specific tower when they log your texts / phone calls / data usage. So, your location is never really private as long as that smartphone is on.

Yes, carriers already know this information, but it's not freely available to anyone who wants it, one would have to have a warrant or subpoena to get that data. The data stored on the iphone is essentially a permanent record of all your movement and activity that can be transmitted to apple and anyone else apple wants to at any point. I can see the divorce lawyers salivating now......

 

[piasabird]

So what? If you live in one city and stay there most of the time, who cares?

I saw a similar thread on Google being sued by Spain because they have an unwritten law that says data on people should be forgotten when no longer needed. Maybe that is what we need. A forget-me Law.

This kind of reeks of some FCC rule that no one voted on.

 

[CPA]

So what? If you live in one city and stay there most of the time, who cares?

I saw a similar thread on Google being sued by Spain because they have an unwritten law that says data on people should be forgotten when no longer needed. Maybe that is what we need. A forget-me Law.

This kind of reeks of some FCC rule that no one voted on.

That's right, who cares? who cares about privacy? It's overrated anyway.

 

[JockoJohnson]

If you can't see the forest from the trees, then I just feel sorry for you. This isn't an apple thing. Yes apple is storing the data on the phone but there are much worse things occurring at the provider level. Read the damn link I posted a few minutes ago. You will realize this shit for apple is nothing in the scheme of things.

I read the link. Good info. Thanks for posting it. Already knew all of that stuff though. Who didn't know that the cell providers can do this and will use the data. So now Apple is getting in on it also and wants your info. They are no better than the next guy. You sound too defensive of Apple.

Like I just stated, everyone already should have known that cell companies are tracking all this.

 

[Infohawk]

As far as I'm concerned this is mostly a tech issue. I take pleasure out of Apple consumers getting burned. Apple has always been closed and secretive. You choose to do business with Apple and you shouldn't be surprised if they're treating you like a child.

 

[NoStateofMind]

But they are "Magical" devices!

 

[PokerGuy]

What we need is an APP! We can call it, "Where's the cheating SOB now?" You download it to your significant other's iPhone or iPad and every day it e-mails you a list of the locations where his/her cell phone has visited in the last 24 hours.

Optionally, for the full version, it can also e-mail the same information to your lawyer.
And that makes for a great vertical marketing opportunity. An app called "Oh My Gawd She Knows" that actually overlays Apple's list with a complete innocent one that has you visiting a lot of religious shrines, libraries, academic institutions and completely avoids a 10-mile circle around your girlfriend's apartment.

 

[RbSX]

If you can't see the forest from the trees, then I just feel sorry for you. This isn't an apple thing. Yes apple is storing the data on the phone but there are much worse things occurring at the provider level. Read the damn link I posted a few minutes ago. You will realize this shit for apple is nothing in the scheme of things.

Apple wrote the fucking program that stores your information, provider level stuff aside, what apple has done simply CANNOT be dismissed.

 

[Throckmorton]

FYI, even though this is apparently part of the API, it doesn't help for any "GPS" type functions. Apps can't access the tracklog and nothing included with the devices use it.

 

[Nintendesert]

I'm sure Apple spent the time and money creating this feature and had no intention of ever using it.

 

[SamurAchzar]

Apple doesn't give a fuck about anyone. Not the carriers, not their partners and certainly not the consumers. This doesn't surprise me one bit.

Not even in its most evil, monopolistic days has Microsoft possessed such a disdain towards the world.

But then, Apple is not just another company. It's a $300b one-man-show.

 

[HomerJS]

Yes, carriers already know this information, but it's not freely available to anyone who wants it, one would have to have a warrant or subpoena to get that data. The data stored on the iphone is essentially a permanent record of all your movement and activity that can be transmitted to apple and anyone else apple wants to at any point. I can see the divorce lawyers salivating now......

If you have time google GW Bush and the FISA courts. Get back to me.

 

[speg]

By your location, you mean the location of the cell tower.

 

[werepossum]

What we need is an APP! We can call it, "Where's the cheating SOB now?" You download it to your significant other's iPhone or iPad and every day it e-mails you a list of the locations where his/her cell phone has visited in the last 24 hours.

Optionally, for the full version, it can also e-mail the same information to your lawyer.
And that makes for a great vertical marketing opportunity. An app called "Oh My Gawd She Knows" that actually overlays Apple's list with a complete innocent one that has you visiting a lot of religious shrines, libraries, academic institutions and completely avoids a 10-mile circle around your girlfriend's apartment.

They already have that first app, as Verizon offered us the chance to have a record of exactly where each phone goes. Mostly people use them to keep up with children, i.e. did little Susie actually go the the library, or did she go to a rave downtown? It sometimes has some amusing consequences, if people forget the limitations and inaccuracies of cell tower GPS and wonder why little Susie spent a hour on a freeway instead of a block away where she SAID she was going.

I suspect someone is working feverishly on the second as well.

 

[blackangst1]

Can GPS be turned off on an iPhone? I know on my Evo I only turn it on when I need it for Google maps, otherwise its off.

The file, which is called “consolidated.db,” keeps track of GPS data on 3G-enabled Apple devices and regularly updates itself with a user’s location.