A daily digest of IT news, curated from blogs, forums and news sites around the web each morning. We highlight the key commentary and demystify the real story.
Your humble blogwatcher curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment. Not to mention Raymond Chen's top ten tips from Vegas...
Gregg Keizer reports Senator Al Franken wants answers:
Franken's letter to ... Steve Jobs came after a pair of British researchers reported Wednesday that ... iOS 4 logs up to 100 location entries daily. ... The data [are] stored in an unencrypted SQLite file ... [and] saved on the device owner's Windows PC or Mac.
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"There are numerous ways in which this information could be abused," ... said Franken ... "There is no indication that this file is any different for underage ... users, meaning that the millions of children and teenage [users] ... also risk having their location collected and compromised."
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[The] FCC is also reportedly looking into the matter.
Christopher Vance also noticed the tracking, six months ago:
The consolidated.db is not by any means a bad thing. ... I have also not found any information to suggest that Apple ... is collecting this information. ... Why Apple does the things they do is beyond me.
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There are multiple tables within this database. ... [such as] CellLocation and WifiLocation. ... I believe the CellLocation table will contain information pertaining to local cell towers. ... The WiFiLocation table had similar information: Time, Longitude, Latitude, etc. but also including Mac Addresses ... [of] the networks the device sees.
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Will it give you a 100% accurate GPS point? ... No. Will it give you real-time tracking data to track someone? No. Can it help you narrow down timeframes and locations? ... Absolutely, if used properly.
Pete Warden responds to criticism:
We went public with this ... because it already seemed to be an open secret among ... forensic phone analysis [people], but not among the general public. ... We were freaked out by the implications ... but most of the forensics community seemed to miss quite how creepy ordinary people would find it.
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The fact that there's thousands of different points scattered across small areas ... seems like pretty strong evidence that they're not just the locations of cell towers. ... There's a lot more points than there are towers. There's also lots of points with the same tower ID ... in different locations.
Brian X. Chen has been digging through Apple's previous pronouncements:
Apples general counsel Bruce Sewell in July 2010 sent a 13-page letter ... explaining its location-data-collection ... [to] Congressmen Joe Barton and Edward Markey. ... The collected geodata is stored ... anonymized with a random identification number ... and finally transmitted over an encrypted Wi-Fi network every 12 hours. ... At Apple, the data gets stored in a database accessible only by Apple.
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In older versions of [iOS] ... Apple relied on Google and Skyhook Wireless to provide location-based services. ... [But] starting with iPhone OS 3.2 ... Apple has started using its own databases to provide location-based services. ... In short, Apples stored location database is intended to assist and quicken location processes.
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[But] after that data is transmitted to Apple ... theres no reason for it to stick around on your device ... accessible to anyone with physical or remote access to your iPhone or iPad. Again, thats a security issue. ... It doesnt need to be stored on your device permanently.
Meanwhile, in a parallel universe, Andy Marlatt reports from "Cupterino":
Researchers who uncovered the hidden file ... created a program allowing users to ... build a map that researchers termed remarkably detailed and iPhone owners called depressingly accurate.
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Expressing the fears of many iPhone owners ... Caldwell, N.J. resident Brian Porteri ... said he is concerned the information could fall into the wrong hands. If my dad gets a hold of this file, I am screwed. ... It will validate everything hes ever said about me.
But what does Levi Sumagaysay say?
Is this a turning point in privacy in the digital age? ... Some people are outraged, including the ACLU. But ... many people are indifferent to all the hullabaloo. To paraphrase ... My life is boring. I have nothing to hide. Let them track me.
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The ACLU has asked for data from the Michigan State Police, whom they allege have taken data from mobile phones in violation of the Fourth Amendment. ... Some of us may have trouble sticking to our convictions. Yes, we value our freedom and privacy. ... But then we fire up Google Maps ... to help us find our destinations by using our current locations.
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Will we switch from smartphones back to dumb phones to minimize our chances of being tracked? ... Technology has come a long way since the wiretap and there may be no turning back.
