(no subject)

[bikerwalla]

First:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/apr/20/iphone-tracking-prompts-privacy-fears

Your iPhone is tracking you. Of course you know that. It's using your GPS data to tell where you are on a map, on Twitter, Foursquare, whatever. The thing you didn't know is that it's kept as a text file on your phone, a PLAIN TEXT FILE, that has dates, times, and coordinates. This file is also copied over to the iTunes directory in any computer you sync your phone to. Anyone who can grab your phone can therefore sync that file to their device.

Second:

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/34/3458.asp

Michigan State Police have a device that extracts information from phones in 90 seconds, and they also routinely ask for phones at a traffic stop. They say they never extract this information without consent, but if they order you to hand over your phone, AND YOU GIVE IT TO THEM, that is consent to search your phone. You can exercise your 4th Amendment right and refuse until they get a warrant, but there will of course be consequences. Because only criminals know that much about Amendment IV. Am I right?
Coming soon to a jurisdiction near you.

Comments

[arctic-puma.livejournal.com]

lets just add this to the list of other reasons i dont buy apple products.

[reveille-d.livejournal.com]

Do you really thing that other triangulating devices aren't tracking you? Do you know that you don't need a GPS to triangulate your location between cell towers? Do you really thing that cell phone companies don't know where you're at, anytime your phone is on? Do you really think they're not tracking that for their own purposes?

In the world of the wired, 'privacy' is nothing more than some stranger telling you "I promise I won't peek".

Edit: I know your point is that someone can potentially steal it off your shiny iPhone, but why is that any worse than someone opening your contacts, peeking at your emails, and looking at all your meetings? This is knee-jerk sensationalism at its finest.

[bikerwalla.livejournal.com]

I don't have amnesia, I remember clicking the agree button in Location Services. I know I'm being tracked, I just think they could do a better job keeping that data on the servers rather than the phones.

If they wanted your mail or your contacts they would have to know your password. But now that can be bypassed in 60 to 90 seconds.

[reveille-d.livejournal.com]

Any time you have physical access to a mobile device, then it is easily crack-able, be it iPhone, BlackBerry, or Android (off-the-shelf, I'm sure there are high-grade options, but it's not the norm). It's nothing new to be able to extract read-only data from these devices, least of all iPhones. In which case locally cached email, contacts, and even SMS can be quickly pulled.

#2 is not new, either, entirely, though perhaps new to police procedure. I've been asked by Customs (when entering into Canada) to hand over my phone for inspection. While they did not plug it into anything, the clerk did examine it and did access several of my apps.

Aaaanyway...

[bikerwalla.livejournal.com]

Most people aren't informed they have the right to keep their phone.

Michigan staties say they only access phones 'with consent', and they've changed the procedure so now the cop asks you for your phone at a traffic stop. But if you hand it over, you're actually giving up your 4th Amendment right to privacy, because the cop now has consent to search it, make a backup, run your SIM, or really whatever.

Airports and Customs are different, because you agree to be searched when you enter.