So, if your iPhone is spying on you, who benefits?
| Chicago
News that certain mobile phone manufacturers have embedded technology in their devices that tracks owners' movements has raised alarms among privacy rights advocates even though it has been somewhat of an open secret since last year.
The controversy flared up this week when technology bloggers started commenting on a report by two security technology researchers that was presented at a conference in Santa Clara, Calif.
Alasdair Allan, a senior research fellow at the University of Exeter, and Pete Warden, founder of Data Science Toolkit, an open-source software website, reported that starting a year ago, when Apple updated its mobile operating system, the iPhone and the 3G version of the iPad started storing user location data.
The data are collected whenever the device connects with cell-phone towers or Wi-Fi networks. The collected data becomes vulnerable to hackers if the device is later synced to a computer.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not sure why Apple is gathering this data, but it's clearly intentional,鈥� Mr. Allan and Mr. Warden wrote on their website.
Apple has not yet commented publicly on the issue. A call to an Apple spokesperson representing the company鈥檚 iPhone division was not returned at press time.
Android reportedly collecting data, too
It is also becoming clear that concern over the tracking software is not limited to Apple devices. On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Google has also been collecting location data from users of its Android OS system, although on a more limited basis than Apple.
Speculation varies about why the manufacturers are allowing their devices to log the users鈥� physical coordinates. One theory is that advertisers would benefit from knowing what locations users frequent most and in what pattern, in order to target marketing messages their way.
Many companies already offer training to computer forensic experts at law enforcement agencies on extracting location data from mobile devices and software, to help them track suspects in criminal cases.
One such company, Micro Systemation, located in Solna, Sweden, posted on its website Thursday that 鈥渢he findings 鈥� will come as a surprise to most iPhone users, as their devices do not give any visual indication that such data is being recorded. But they are no surprise to the developers here at [the company] who have been recovering this data 鈥� for some considerable time.鈥�
The company offers a course on 鈥渋Phone Forensics鈥� it says will teach participants 鈥渉ow to recover stored and deleted data.鈥� According to its website, it is targeted to 鈥渓aw enforcement,鈥� 鈥渕ilitary intelligence operatives,鈥� and 鈥渃orporate fraud investigators,鈥� among others.
Privacy trade-offs
The revelation about the phone systems is part of a larger trend regarding mobile devices and privacy, says Catherine Crump, a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union in New York City.
鈥淭his is not just about Apple,鈥� she says, 鈥渋t鈥檚 about the broader question about how electronic devices have become integrated in our daily lives. That鈥檚 fantastic, but at the same time, it鈥檚 a new reality for the rest of us who didn鈥檛 grow up with them and are struggling to understand what the privacy trade-offs are in using them.鈥�
Ms. Crump adds that even though 鈥渨e鈥檝e all become heavily reliant鈥� on the devices, it is becoming evident they are designed to 鈥渃ollect or share new information in ways that we don鈥檛鈥� completely understand.鈥�
What happens next is likely government scrutiny. Several members of Congress have already sent letters to Apple. Sen. Al Franken (D) of Minnesota wrote that 鈥渁nyone who gains access to this single file could likely determine the location of a user鈥檚 home, the businesses he frequents, the doctors he visits, the schools his children attend, and the trips he has taken.鈥�
Consent by users
Last July Apple responded to an inquiry from Reps. Ed Markey (D) of Massachusetts and Joe Barton (R) of Texas with a letter stating that the 鈥渓atitude and longitude coordinates are not kept or otherwise associated with an individual,鈥� an assertion contradicted by the research findings this week.
The company also wrote that 鈥渂y using any location-based services on your iPhone,鈥� users 鈥渁gree and consent to Apple鈥檚 and its partners鈥� and licensees鈥� transmission, collection, maintenance, processing and use of your location data to provide products and services.鈥�
Jacqui Cheng, the senior Apple editor at Ars Technica, a technology news website, says the revelations this week will not likely affect sales of either the Apple or Google devices, however she does predict that, in the case of Apple, a software fix will likely take place.
鈥淭hey might change so it only tracks recent [physical movements], but I can鈥檛 see [Apple] getting rid of it altogether because they use the data to improve location tracking to figure out where the Wi-Fi hotspots are,鈥� she says.
