4 ms·

"You will need root access to the device to read this directory." It's not even in the same realm.

by drivebyacct2 16y ago

ceejayoz 16y ago
Why? You need the user's iPhone or their computer in your physical possession to read the iOS location cache.
- notJim 16y ago
  I thought normal users (who haven't rooted their phones) wouldn't have easy access to the root filesystem. I just looked on my phone (just by plugging it into my computer and putting it in filesystem mode), and looked, and I don't see the folder he's talking about. Am I wrong? I'm not really sure about this.
- drivebyacct2 16y ago
  Because I can grab your phone, plug it in and have all of your history. If you grabbed my phone running 2.3.3 on the Nexus S... it would be impossible to get to that data without going through the entire bootloader unlock process which is obviously invasive. Imagine scenarios where people are reading your location data. Authorities, governments, espionage... all of them would be largely foiled due to the fact that root access is required and gaining that root access would leave trails. Do I really have to explain the difference between data easily accessed via usb and data that is stored in protected areas of the rom on an Android device? Spot on with your comment voting there HN. Thanks as usual.
  - ceejayoz 16y ago
    > Because I can grab your phone, plug it in and have all of your history OK, but you've already got my phone! Authorities and governments aren't foiled, they just got to AT&T and get the data from its source (where, incidentally, I can't have tampered with it). As for espionage, I rather suspect the CIA and its foreign counterparts can figure out a way to root my phone quietly.
    - drivebyacct2 16y ago
      It's a cell phone. Much easier to misplace, lose, have fall out of your pocket, etc than any other computing device. Again, it's not in the same realm considering that it's protected inside the ROM of the phone. Even if you HAD my Android phone, it's not game over. Please, go buy a Droid X, upgrade to the latest OTA rom for which there is no root exploit. Then try to get into the (already very limited) timestamp/tower data on my phone. You won't be able to. That's my point. On the other hand, with your iPhone, like I said, "I've already got your phone" and it's game over for your location data. How about just girlfriends, bosses, etc? Anyone with a usb cable and another mobile phone or laptop knows (roughly) exactly where you've been going for months.

"You will need root access to the device to read this directory." It's not even in the same realm.

ceejayoz 16y ago

Why? You need the user's iPhone or their computer in your physical possession to read the iOS location cache.

notJim 16y ago
I thought normal users (who haven't rooted their phones) wouldn't have easy access to the root filesystem. I just looked on my phone (just by plugging it into my computer and putting it in filesystem mode), and looked, and I don't see the folder he's talking about. Am I wrong? I'm not really sure about this.
drivebyacct2 16y ago
Because I can grab your phone, plug it in and have all of your history. If you grabbed my phone running 2.3.3 on the Nexus S... it would be impossible to get to that data without going through the entire bootloader unlock process which is obviously invasive. Imagine scenarios where people are reading your location data. Authorities, governments, espionage... all of them would be largely foiled due to the fact that root access is required and gaining that root access would leave trails. Do I really have to explain the difference between data easily accessed via usb and data that is stored in protected areas of the rom on an Android device? Spot on with your comment voting there HN. Thanks as usual.
- ceejayoz 16y ago
  > Because I can grab your phone, plug it in and have all of your history OK, but you've already got my phone! Authorities and governments aren't foiled, they just got to AT&T and get the data from its source (where, incidentally, I can't have tampered with it). As for espionage, I rather suspect the CIA and its foreign counterparts can figure out a way to root my phone quietly.
  - drivebyacct2 16y ago
    It's a cell phone. Much easier to misplace, lose, have fall out of your pocket, etc than any other computing device. Again, it's not in the same realm considering that it's protected inside the ROM of the phone. Even if you HAD my Android phone, it's not game over. Please, go buy a Droid X, upgrade to the latest OTA rom for which there is no root exploit. Then try to get into the (already very limited) timestamp/tower data on my phone. You won't be able to. That's my point. On the other hand, with your iPhone, like I said, "I've already got your phone" and it's game over for your location data. How about just girlfriends, bosses, etc? Anyone with a usb cable and another mobile phone or laptop knows (roughly) exactly where you've been going for months.