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Apple Loses My Respect
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<blockquote data-quote="Langston Holland" data-source="post: 26334" data-attributes="member: 171"><p>Re: Metastasis</p><p></p><p>Amazingly, Alex did reply to my email and included a link to a <a href="http://alexlevinson.wordpress.com/2011/04/23/3-new-thoughts-on-mobile-location/" target="_blank">second article</a> he just wrote in a far more humble tone. Alex got caught with his pants down and found out that the WSJ sources were right - Apple attempts to upload every iPhone user's movements every 12 hours if the default behavior of the device is allowed.</p><p></p><p>To quote:</p><p></p><p>"Apple previously used Skyhook Wireless for their determining the location of iPhones, but announced in 2010 they would be moving to their own location services starting in April of 2010 with iOS 3.2. This would confirm why there is data transmitted to Apple every 12 hours as reported by F-Secure yesterday. This explains my failure to see this unsolicited location data. My network traffic analysis of iOS devices has never spanned large time intervals."</p><p></p><p>He then falls back to faith-in-Apple posture:</p><p></p><p>"This still doesn’t translate into Apple tracking users behind their back."</p><p></p><p>"I think overall, this location data is being used to further the iOS experience."</p><p></p><p>"Through several avenues, Apple is attempting to protect your data on these devices."</p><p></p><p>etc.</p><p></p><p>One thing of interest I learned from the article is that enabling backup file encryption also encrypts the data on the device itself. If true, this is very nice as it'll probably thwart any attempt to retrieve data via thief or "law enforcement".</p><p></p><p>Easily the most useful summary of this whole mess <a href="http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00002145.html" target="_blank">is here</a>. It's a relief to find out that the mere existence of the location tracking file in the iPhone (Library/Caches/locationd/consolidated.db) does not mean Apple is actually getting the data.</p><p></p><p>Assuming Apple didn't lie to Congress in its 12 July 2010 privacy policy explanation, the following will keep your iPhone's location hidden from everyone except your cell carrier. The phone retains all the functionality that is important to me, but YMMV.</p><p></p><p>01. Set iTunes to encrypt iOS device backups.</p><p>02. If you didn't opt out of the anonymous diagnostic bug in iTunes, reinstall it and choose Disagree.</p><p>03. Using your iOS device, opt out of iAd via <a href="http://oo.apple.com" target="_blank">http://oo.apple.com</a>.</p><p>04. Change "My Number" to something fictional.</p><p>05. Enable Lock Passcode with Erase Data after 10 failed attempts.</p><p>06. Flush Safari's history, cookies and cache routinely.</p><p>07. An iOS device is a computer. Don't be stupid with email or surfing.</p><p>08. Disable Location Services.</p><p>09. Disable Wi-Fi.</p><p>10. Vote for pro-privacy congressional candidates.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Langston Holland, post: 26334, member: 171"] Re: Metastasis Amazingly, Alex did reply to my email and included a link to a [url=http://alexlevinson.wordpress.com/2011/04/23/3-new-thoughts-on-mobile-location/]second article[/url] he just wrote in a far more humble tone. Alex got caught with his pants down and found out that the WSJ sources were right - Apple attempts to upload every iPhone user's movements every 12 hours if the default behavior of the device is allowed. To quote: "Apple previously used Skyhook Wireless for their determining the location of iPhones, but announced in 2010 they would be moving to their own location services starting in April of 2010 with iOS 3.2. This would confirm why there is data transmitted to Apple every 12 hours as reported by F-Secure yesterday. This explains my failure to see this unsolicited location data. My network traffic analysis of iOS devices has never spanned large time intervals." He then falls back to faith-in-Apple posture: "This still doesn’t translate into Apple tracking users behind their back." "I think overall, this location data is being used to further the iOS experience." "Through several avenues, Apple is attempting to protect your data on these devices." etc. One thing of interest I learned from the article is that enabling backup file encryption also encrypts the data on the device itself. If true, this is very nice as it'll probably thwart any attempt to retrieve data via thief or "law enforcement". Easily the most useful summary of this whole mess [url=http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00002145.html]is here[/url]. It's a relief to find out that the mere existence of the location tracking file in the iPhone (Library/Caches/locationd/consolidated.db) does not mean Apple is actually getting the data. Assuming Apple didn't lie to Congress in its 12 July 2010 privacy policy explanation, the following will keep your iPhone's location hidden from everyone except your cell carrier. The phone retains all the functionality that is important to me, but YMMV. 01. Set iTunes to encrypt iOS device backups. 02. If you didn't opt out of the anonymous diagnostic bug in iTunes, reinstall it and choose Disagree. 03. Using your iOS device, opt out of iAd via [url]http://oo.apple.com[/url]. 04. Change "My Number" to something fictional. 05. Enable Lock Passcode with Erase Data after 10 failed attempts. 06. Flush Safari's history, cookies and cache routinely. 07. An iOS device is a computer. Don't be stupid with email or surfing. 08. Disable Location Services. 09. Disable Wi-Fi. 10. Vote for pro-privacy congressional candidates. [/QUOTE]
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