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The unlimited size of Apple's cache is probably just a mistake. It makes no sense to store it on the device for tracking purposes. I assume they log this info w

The unlimited size of Apple's cache is probably just a mistake. It makes no sense to store it on the device for tracking purposes. I assume they log this info when the device requests the info from Skyhook (or whatever location provider they have now) anyway.

Relwal 15y ago
Apple's consolidated.db is not a "mistake". A mistake would not have gotten rewritten for iOS 4 when the database got converted from XML to SQLite and moved to user data. http://alexlevinson.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/3-major-issues-with-the-latest-iphone-tracking-discovery/ http://alexlevinson.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/3-major-issues-... Also iOS no longer uses Skyhook as of iOS 3.2. Plus Skyhook is for Wifi access point location data, not cell-tower location data. Apple uses its own database for that now which you consent to update with your location data. http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00002145.html http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00002145.html
- xorglorb 15y ago
  > A mistake would not have gotten rewritten for iOS 4 when the database got converted from XML to SQLite and moved to user data. If they are using CoreData as the storage engine, it is possible they changed backends without ever looking at what was stored in it.
kefs 15y ago
I can confirm that the Android cache.cell and cache.wifi lists are very limited. I just checked mine using your parse.py, and was only able to see 50/200 total records respectively. My cell data only went as far back as 13 days ago. "The unlimited size of Apple's cache is probably just a mistake." I think this is what concerns people most. This "mistake" has your triangulated location based on cell towers tracked for years and years, across multiple devices, when there really is no recognizable need to store/cache this much location data for this long. It seems, judging by the above linked source-code, that Android has it right on this one.
- dailyrorschach 15y ago
  I ran the program and looked at my iPhone dump, and it is not that exact and I live in NYC. It truly appears to just tag position of towers. Where it shows the dots for me is not exact or even close positions most of the time, and even locations that I've never been to but the nearest tower I must've connected to. Which is helpful for me since I've long suspected AT&T has a dearth of towers in my section of the UES, maybe I can get a microcell out of this, haha.
watty 15y ago
I'm guessing you knew that Android has a cache that rolls over prior to posting - were you just trying to stir up discussion/controversy with the misleading headline?
- packetlss 15y ago
  I did. The title wasn't meant to mislead though. More of a tongue-in-cheek remark. Hence having "tracks" in quotes. Personally I think the whole "OMG APPLE TRACKS US!!" thing going on is overblown. Looking at it now I guess it can be seen as misleading. It wasn't my intention though. edit: changed the title ..
  - bad_user 15y ago
    "OMG APPLE TRACKS US!!" thing going on is overblown It isn't -- consumers should be aware that these services represent a net loss for their privacy on the long term. If a device tells you that it is tracking you; eventually giving you the possibility of opting out, deleting all tracks of you on request, then it's fine by me. But otherwise it isn't, and this practice should really stop. And here I was a couple of months ago, thinking about how cool / evil would be to make an app that tracks someone's route for spying purposes (like your girlfriend for example). Apparently iPhones give it away for free, no extra work required ;-)
    - kefs 15y ago
      Wow.. I didn't even think of this angle. Think of how many jealous boyfriend/girlfriends there are with complete access to their mate's iphone. :/
      - bad_user 15y ago
        Not only jealous boyfriends -- give your employees iPhones, and they'll surely synchronize it at least once a month on your company's computers ;) Phones with GPS incorporated can be mindbogglingly evil -- just think about the costs involved in hiring a private eye to track the daily route of someone, day after day, for a whole month. People don't do it because of the costs involved and because an incompetent can blow away his cover. iPhones are equipped with GPS, and that data is there, waiting for you to retrieve it. You don't have to do anything special about it -- you just have to gain access to that iPhone somehow. I'm not accusing Apple of anything, I really think it was just a minor slip-up on their part. But these things are dangerous ;)
marcusbooster 15y ago
It makes no sense to store it on the device for tracking purposes. It would make sense to store this information on a server, so why aren't they? Is it a mistake, or are there laws that preclude this? Maybe it's track now, figure out what to do with it later. The data is extremely valuable.

Relwal 15y ago

Apple's consolidated.db is not a "mistake". A mistake would not have gotten rewritten for iOS 4 when the database got converted from XML to SQLite and moved to user data. http://alexlevinson.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/3-major-issues-with-the-latest-iphone-tracking-discovery/ http://alexlevinson.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/3-major-issues-... Also iOS no longer uses Skyhook as of iOS 3.2. Plus Skyhook is for Wifi access point location data, not cell-tower location data. Apple uses its own database for that now which you consent to update with your location data. http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00002145.html http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00002145.html

xorglorb 15y ago
> A mistake would not have gotten rewritten for iOS 4 when the database got converted from XML to SQLite and moved to user data. If they are using CoreData as the storage engine, it is possible they changed backends without ever looking at what was stored in it.

kefs 15y ago

I can confirm that the Android cache.cell and cache.wifi lists are very limited. I just checked mine using your parse.py, and was only able to see 50/200 total records respectively. My cell data only went as far back as 13 days ago. "The unlimited size of Apple's cache is probably just a mistake." I think this is what concerns people most. This "mistake" has your triangulated location based on cell towers tracked for years and years, across multiple devices, when there really is no recognizable need to store/cache this much location data for this long. It seems, judging by the above linked source-code, that Android has it right on this one.

dailyrorschach 15y ago
I ran the program and looked at my iPhone dump, and it is not that exact and I live in NYC. It truly appears to just tag position of towers. Where it shows the dots for me is not exact or even close positions most of the time, and even locations that I've never been to but the nearest tower I must've connected to. Which is helpful for me since I've long suspected AT&T has a dearth of towers in my section of the UES, maybe I can get a microcell out of this, haha.

watty 15y ago

I'm guessing you knew that Android has a cache that rolls over prior to posting - were you just trying to stir up discussion/controversy with the misleading headline?

packetlss 15y ago
I did. The title wasn't meant to mislead though. More of a tongue-in-cheek remark. Hence having "tracks" in quotes. Personally I think the whole "OMG APPLE TRACKS US!!" thing going on is overblown. Looking at it now I guess it can be seen as misleading. It wasn't my intention though. edit: changed the title ..
- bad_user 15y ago
  "OMG APPLE TRACKS US!!" thing going on is overblown It isn't -- consumers should be aware that these services represent a net loss for their privacy on the long term. If a device tells you that it is tracking you; eventually giving you the possibility of opting out, deleting all tracks of you on request, then it's fine by me. But otherwise it isn't, and this practice should really stop. And here I was a couple of months ago, thinking about how cool / evil would be to make an app that tracks someone's route for spying purposes (like your girlfriend for example). Apparently iPhones give it away for free, no extra work required ;-)
  - kefs 15y ago
    Wow.. I didn't even think of this angle. Think of how many jealous boyfriend/girlfriends there are with complete access to their mate's iphone. :/
    - bad_user 15y ago
      Not only jealous boyfriends -- give your employees iPhones, and they'll surely synchronize it at least once a month on your company's computers ;) Phones with GPS incorporated can be mindbogglingly evil -- just think about the costs involved in hiring a private eye to track the daily route of someone, day after day, for a whole month. People don't do it because of the costs involved and because an incompetent can blow away his cover. iPhones are equipped with GPS, and that data is there, waiting for you to retrieve it. You don't have to do anything special about it -- you just have to gain access to that iPhone somehow. I'm not accusing Apple of anything, I really think it was just a minor slip-up on their part. But these things are dangerous ;)

marcusbooster 15y ago

It makes no sense to store it on the device for tracking purposes. It would make sense to store this information on a server, so why aren't they? Is it a mistake, or are there laws that preclude this? Maybe it's track now, figure out what to do with it later. The data is extremely valuable.