iPhone tracking your movements and keeping a secret file

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rudeguy

Lifer
Dec 27, 2001
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You cant possibly be this obtuse. The ACLU is just going to waste resources on a made up issue?

Michigan isnt even denying it:



"To that end, it's petitioning the MSP to turn over information about its use of the devices under the Freedom of Information Act. The MSP said it's happy to comply, that is, if the ACLU provides them with a processing fee in excess of $500,000. That's more than $100,000 for each of the five devices the MSP says it has in use

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20055431-1.html#ixzz1KCOllpjv

That did not mention harvesting data
 

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,123
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Ohhhhh...you are just defending Apple, with no real regard to the actual issue.

No. I am not defending anything except common sense.

No one is harvesting or collecting any data on your phone or computer except YOU.

MotionMan
 

JS80

Lifer
Oct 24, 2005
26,271
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I wonder if the information is linked to a particular unit in some way, or is it just general batch data?

Is it clear that the "newly-found" document is what is transmitted to Apple?

MotionMan

I can't imagine anyone but Apple knows. I will hold judgement. I am interested in seeing how they PR all this.

What would be awesome is if this was some secret shared government project to track people and it turns out to be a scandal. For the lulz.
 

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,123
12
81
I can't imagine anyone but Apple knows. I will hold judgement. I am interested in seeing how they PR all this.

What would be awesome is if this was some secret shared government project to track people and it turns out to be a scandal. For the lulz.

It will probably turn out to be nothing, they will turn it off in the next update, and it will be forgotten soon.

At least, that is our evil plan. Muwhahaha!!!

MotionMan
 

JS80

Lifer
Oct 24, 2005
26,271
7
81
It will probably turn out to be nothing, they will turn it off in the next update, and it will be forgotten soon.

At least, that is our evil plan. Muwhahaha!!!

MotionMan

If the report is true and they data is sent to Apple, can you, as a lawyer, see how in the hell this feature made it out of legal without disclosure?
 

dmcowen674

No Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
54,889
47
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www.alienbabeltech.com
Why not just have a government video camera placed on you at all times? I mean, you arent doing anything illegal, right? Your life is boring, who would actually watch it?

What if it proves you didnt commit a crime someday?

You obviously don't live in Chicago.

There is a camera on nearly every street corner
 

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,123
12
81
If the report is true and they data is sent to Apple, can you, as a lawyer, see how in the hell this feature made it out of legal without disclosure?

Depends on if it includes identifying or backtrackable information or not.

MotionMan
 

HAL9000

Lifer
Oct 17, 2010
22,021
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I think this is pretty cool. I'm definitely going to get my data off my phone and plot it on a map!
 

SSSnail

Lifer
Nov 29, 2006
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If you only know what information is kept on your phone, you'd never want to use it again.
 
Feb 19, 2001
20,155
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But if you turn off location tracking, the iPhone won't record your location will it?

Everything I've seen lacks detail. It just say your phone tracks where you are. How is this different from say Google Latitude? Ok, you're not asked on the iPhone, but WHAT exactly is done?

Does it do a location based on location services every 30 minutes? Or what does it do? It obviously doesn't do it THAT often otherwise battery life would be horrendous.
 

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
1,235
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On the way home from work, I heard some FUD about this on NPR.

With iOS4, there's a wonderful new API that intelligently preserves your battery and still allows your location-enabled apps to work effectively.

For instance, I use Google Latitude to share my location with family. Before iOS 4.x, this impacted battery life severely. Now, it uses a combination of tracking techniques and battery life is barely impacted. For instance, when I'm at my apartment, it uses the GPS briefly to get a fix. Then, it shuts off the GPS module. With no additional impact on power usage, the baseband uses the cell tower location capability to notify the OS API when you're moving significantly, so the OS knows when to activate the GPS and get a more-precise fix.

I'm sure the file is there so that multiple location-aware apps don't have to poll for the same info and waste battery power. They're all updated at the same time.