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Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Iphone Secrets : Your Iphone is tracking you... SECRETLY!!!

Just discovered something while browsing out via the Internet. And it's a bit shocking for someone like me who owns an Iphone. Apparently, Iphone is tracking where you are.

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According to this site : http://radar.oreilly.com/2011/04/apple-location-tracking.html, eversince IOS 4 arrived, Iphone is apparently tracking your location and storing it on a hidden file. Not sure what's this file for, but it seems clearly intentional as the database is being restored accross backups and even transferred to a new device when you happen to buy one and restore your apps on it.



Apparently, the location (longitude and latitude) plus timestamp is stored on a file called consolidated.db. It's a list of cell location, meaning it's a cell tower triangulation. Important thing to remember is that this is only stored on your device and computer and no way transmitted outside. But the main issue here is that : since this is also stored on your machine, it can be accessed by any running programs, which means it can be used to track your movements.



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Please see more information here : http://radar.oreilly.com/2011/04/apple-location-tracking.html and http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/apr/20/iphone-tracking-prompts-privacy-fears


Video is here :


If you want to test this, and you're using a mac, try this tools.



IphoneTracker from one of the researcher who found this - http://petewarden.github.com/iPhoneTracker/



From mac and I. Modified version of IphoneTracker that uses Google Maps - http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1881429/MyPhoneTracker.zip

For those using windows, read this : http://jlgaines.blogspot.com/2011/04/for-windows-user-iphone-secrets-your.html

This is what I get when I use the app.



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