Those of you with iPhones might want to read this...

Conway · Apr 21, 2011

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/04/20/secret_iphone_location_tracking/

Apple's iPhone and iPad constantly track users' physical location and store the data in unencrypted files that can be read by anyone with physical access to the device, computer researchers said.
The file, which is stored on both the iOS device and any computers that store backups of its data, can be used to reconstruct a detailed snapshot of the user's comings and goings, down to the second, the researchers, Pete Warden and Alasdair Allen, blogged. The revelation, which Apple has never acknowledged, means iPhones and iPads put their users at considerable risk from snoops.

“The most immediate problem is that this data is stored in an easily-readable form on your machine,” they wrote. “Any other program you run or user with access to your machine can look through it. By passively logging your location without your permission, Apple have made it possible for anyone from a jealous spouse to a private investigator to get a detailed picture of your movements.”
Apple representatives didn't respond to emails and phones calls from The Register seeking comment.
The researchers were quick to point out that there is no evidence Apple or anyone else has accessed the information. They didn't offer any guidance on how to turn off the movement tracker, but suggested users encrypt backups when syncing devices with iTunes to prevent the data from being read by people who have access to the underlying computer.
But that advice would do nothing to deter those who steal or otherwise obtain an iPhone or iPad.
The data is stored in the /Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backups/ folder of computers that sync to the iDevice. While most of the folders and files inside contain pseudo-random names, it's possible to unscramble them by examining files called Manifest.mbdb and Manifest.mbdx. With a few more steps, users will extract a database in the SQLite format that's easily read with multiple applications.
The researchers said that locations are tracked by triangulating near-by cellphone towers. That suggests that the movements are tracked even when an iDevice's GPS features are turned off.
Charlie Miller, a security researcher who has repeatedly breached the security of the iPhone, told The Register he has replicated the research and it appears the findings are correct.
“I looked at the file on my phone and it had tons and tons of entries,” said Miller, who is a principal security analyst at Independent Security Evaluators. “They were all places I've been. For me, at least, it had lots of information.”
The researchers have released open-source software that makes the entire process a snap. It also plots the information to a map that shows the movements of the user. While the locations are stored down to the second, the researchers said, their software intentionally reduces the time to weekly increments to make the data less useful to snoops.
The researchers said they also diminished the location granularity, but they pointed out that prosecutors, private investigators and others who reproduce their work are under no such constraints.
The researchers said they stumbled on the database while working on several location data visualization projects.
“At first we weren't sure how much data was there, but after we dug further and visualized the extracted data, it became clear that there was a scary amount of detail on our movements,” they wrote. “It also became obvious that at least some other people knew about it, but it wasn't being publicized.”
Bootnote

Forensics investigator Christopher Vance alluded to the iDevice location tracking as long ago as September in his Cellular.Sherlock blog. “This fun little database is stuffed FULL of GPS data ripe for the picking,” he warned of the SQLite file, which is titled consolidated.db. In an update, he said that in addition to a CellLocation table, the database contains a WifiLocation table.
What's more, Freedom to Tinker blogger Will Clarkson said he dumped the database contents on a two-month-old CDMA iPhone and found more than 53,000 distinct MAC addresses stored in the WifiLocation table, “suggesting that this data is stored not just for networks your device connects to but for every network your phone was aware of (i.e. the network at the Starbucks you walked by -- but didn’t connect to).”
This article was updated to add comments from Charlie Miller.
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Get your tinfoil hats on...

BRID · Apr 21, 2011

Maybe that's why smartphone batteries last roughly the same time as a horny teenager with abnormal premature ejaculation.

I have to keep my HTC desire more or less permanently hooked up to a charger, or it dies within a few hours if i DARE to use any of its features (bluetooth for my car handsfree etc) .... probably because its constantly tracking my movements everywhere, even when i think it isnt.

My lass is going to kill me once she finds out how much time i spend on pink lane in the dead of night, and at Sven's adult books.

Rigsby420 · Apr 21, 2011

loled at 'Sven's adult books'
Conway, from this post i take it you dont have an iPhone, Apple hater.

Conway · Apr 21, 2011

I do mate, had a 3GS for just under two years now

Rigsby420 · Apr 21, 2011

FFS, forum troll post fail...good lad, i dont do mobiles full stop managed without them back in the day, wor lass has a 3gs like, cant fault it apart from the fuck on that is iTunes.
See you tonight mate.

JIMI · Apr 21, 2011

BRID said: ↑

Maybe that's why smartphone batteries last roughly the same time as a horny teenager with abnormal premature ejaculation.
I have to keep my HTC desire more or less permanently hooked up to a charger, or it dies within a few hours if i DARE to use any of its features (bluetooth for my car handsfree etc) .... probably because its constantly tracking my movements everywhere, even when i think it isnt.

My lass is going to kill me once she finds out how much time i spend on pink lane in the dead of night, and at Sven's adult books.
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now now brid, u dont spend any time on pink lane or i would have seen you i have heard you like to hang around teh gardens tho

Rory Space · Apr 21, 2011

I've knew about this from day 1 tbh, on my iphone i always have my 3G off internet off data roming & location services off, & disabled any other tracking app/setting lol. Unless ofcourse i'm using mobile net i'll turn some stuff on for a bit.

Congay · Apr 21, 2011

I was told this by a copper years ago. Our police have a agreement with Apple that enanbles the filth to access the phones and directly listen in to whatever is being said around the handset covertly, say if the phone is on the tble in the pub, they can open a channel to it and listen to whats being said around the table. This file also will be accessed i have nbo doubt.

You a fool if you choose to own one of these and one step away from you car being chipped or even a chip in your neck telling the system what and where you are.

I dont supossed this will bother most of you tho who mainly own a device such as this just to look cool and "with it"

Carry on.

Mike Louth · Apr 21, 2011

Looked at mine yesterday http://twitpic.com/4nbrn4

Congay · Apr 21, 2011

They have gay bars in Norway?

Mike Louth · Apr 21, 2011

Only gigs I can get

Rossy · Apr 21, 2011

This could prove handy for any iphone using forum members if they need to clear their name in a murder inquiry.

Rossy · Apr 21, 2011

http://redtape.msnbc.msn.com/_news/...et-gives-cops-quick-access-to-cell-phone-data

The "Universal Forensic Extraction Device" sounds like the perfect cell phone snooping gadget.

Its maker, Israel-based Cellbrite, says it can copy all the content in a cell phone -- including contacts, text messages, call history, and pictures -- within a few minutes. Even deleted texts and other data can be restored by UFED 2.0, the latest version of the product, it says.

And it really is a universal tool. The firm says UFED works with 3,000 cell phone models, representing 95 percent of the handset market. Coming soon, the firm says on its website: "Additional major breakthroughs, including comprehensive iPhone physical solution; Android physical support – allowing bypassing of user lock code, (Windows Phone) support, and much more." For good measure, UFEC can extract information from GPS units in most cars.

The gadget isn't a stalker's dream; it's an evidence-gathering tool for law enforcement. Cellbrite claims it’s already in use in 60 countries.

That apparently includes the U.S. The American Civil Liberties Union in Michigan says it has learned that state police there have purchased some of the gadgets. What is it doing with them? So far, Michigan authorities aren't telling. A public records request for information by the ACLU was met with a prohibitive $500,000 bill to cover the supposed cost of making the documents available.

"They did produce documents which confirmed that they have them," said Mark Fancher, a staff attorney at the ACLU office. "We have no idea what they are doing with them."

Technology and the Fourth Amendment have had a rocky relationship. When The Founding Fathers created protections against unlimited search and seizure, they never imagined the kind of tools that would be available to 21st century police officers.

Cell phone data is an indispensible tool in both investigations and prosecutions. A drug dealer's contact list is an obvious treasure trove. Location information stored in the phone can prove (or disprove) an alibi. Texts are at least as valuable as emails. Increasingly, smartphone s are used as mini-laptops, placing even more ready-made evidence in one small package -- as long as law enforcement can get to it before it's destroyed.
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Gets worse...

Congay · Apr 21, 2011

iv just microwaved all of my handsets and gone back to smoke signals

Rory Space · Apr 21, 2011

What we carry with us every day isn't an RFID chip, or the ID card, instead it's a phone that works better than both. What better way to slip the idea over the line than gear up the latest and greatest technology that everyone wants & won't forget to take with them!

Congay · Apr 21, 2011

ALWAYS turn off your blu tooth too. Imagine how easy it would be to sit in a street in a car with a mobile antena and just pluck any phone out of the air. Iv seen feds doing this using laptops in a car. Godless fecks

Rory Space · Apr 21, 2011

a remember when it first came out, no1 would buy a phone that didn't have bluetooth, such a battery killer.

hummel · Apr 21, 2011

Teknofish said: ↑

iv just microwaved all of my handsets and gone back to smoke signals
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So you're muslim now?

Conway · Apr 22, 2011

hummel said: ↑

So you're muslim now?
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No, he's an inbred mackem hick, thats how they communicate

Congay · Apr 22, 2011

hummel said: ↑

So you're muslim now?
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no that would be writting on goats skin with a bic pen

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