You are being tracked by your iPhone! ~ My Digital Life

My location data.

Surprised, are you? Apple playing Big Brother? Well, if you haven't already heard about it, the whole brouhaha was created when two researchers recently pointed out in their blog entry that all iOS devices running iOS 4 are keeping track of the user's location data in a file called as "consolidated.db". This is an unencrypted (unprotected for the laymen) database file which can't be directly assessed from the device but it can be assessed on a jailbroken device or on any computer with which the device syncs. Apple's privacy policy states that location data would be gathered anonymously so as to offer better location based products and services including Mobileme and "Find My iPhone". But really, how can the data be anonymous if it is stored on a person's computer and tied to an iTunes account? The data comes from your Cellular towers and wifi points, not from your GPS chip. Hence it is not entirely as reliable as GPS and in many cases may be way off the point. The two researchers have also made an app (for mac only) to have a look at the data which is available for a free download. I was able to launch the app and see for myself where in this world I have been roaming around since I got my iPhone 4 in last June (as if I didn't know already!) Astonished, is what I was after seeing the colorful spy movie like plotting on a map. The points were pretty accurate though a few were at places I have never been to.

But collection of data is nothing new and even other phones including android have such database files. Your cellular operator also has this data of your location which is being fed in by their towers. But the problem is that the data with your operator can't be obtained without a court order while the unencrypted iPhone data can be easily assessed by anybody having access to the device or the computer it is syncing to. And on top of that, the alarming thing is that anyone can get it from the synced computer without even the device attached to it (as I did find out in my experimentation). So, if you are syncing with your office PC, then anybody in the office who has access to that PC has by all means absolute access to your location data too.

So, is it really scary? Should you be worried? Well, if you are a cheating spouse, lying to your partner about your whereabouts, then better beware. Maybe, as you are reading this, your spouse may be looking up your data on your home PC. But for those people who are in the habit of broadcasting there location on Twitter, Facebook or Four Square, there is little to worry about. So, what can you do to protect your privacy? Two options. Turn off the location services in your device setting or encrypt your data backup file in iTunes options. For more information you can have a look at this PC Mag FAQ. If you want to see your data, you can use this app for Mac and this one for Windows (haven't tried it myself though). Now don't you go snooping around your spouse's PC otherwise I am not going to be held responsible for any disruptions thereafter.