6 ms·

Your iPhone maps and logs where you are and when you're there

34 points by mikeyanderson 13y ago

selectout 13y ago
I know this has been discussed many times since the iOS 7 beta builds first release, but recently there has been a nice interface Google has released to see this data from your google account. Uses anything logged in with your google account (phone, computer, tablet, etc) and puts it in one central area. https://maps.google.com/locationhistory/b/0/ https://maps.google.com/locationhistory/b/0/
- dpcx 13y ago
  This interface has actually been in existence (in one form or another) since Latitude first launched.
pseudometa 13y ago
Unlike the NSA, I actually see some personal benefit to this.
- jreed91 13y ago
  I agree too. I like being able to pull down my notification center and have it know where I usually go to provide relevant traffic alerts.
joslin01 13y ago
Now if I could only find the switch to stop the NSA from tracking me.
eyesee 13y ago
A big difference with this over Google (or NSA for that matter) is the location history stays on your phone and isn't logged on a server.
- mikeyanderson 13y ago
  I believe when I first looked at it, the option to store on their server was turned on. But also people are carrying around a subpoena-ble log of everywhere they've been without knowing.
digikata 13y ago
Isn't this basically one use of the motion co-processor collected data that's a feature in the iPhone 5s?
ivanoats 13y ago
Creepy! What kind of evil things could be done with this data?
chadgeidel 13y ago
Hasn't this been known for quite some time? Here's an article from 2011: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/04/iphone-tracks/ http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/04/iphone-tracks/
- mikeyanderson 13y ago
  There's a big difference between a data file hiding somewhere and a full on UI with logs and maps that anyone could pick up your phone and see. Everyone I've showed this too was surprised.
egwynn 13y ago
Was this ever a secret? I thought this was a relatively prominently advertised feature in iOS 7.
sailfast 13y ago
This has been "known" for a long time, but not known widely enough that I see it turned off when I ask my friends with iPhones about their data. Typically the first thing I do is ask them if they want targeted ads pushed to them based on their location and they say "no" and I proceed to borrow their phone and disable everything buried in that menu under Privacy except (perhaps) the compass calibration.
- Steko 13y ago
  How clever of them to "bury" all the privacy settings in a Settings menu called "Privacy".
  - mikeyouse 13y ago
    Up until iOS7, the ad-tracking settings were under: "Settings" -> "General" -> "About" -> "Advertising" and not with the rest under "Privacy". And then they helpfully used a double-negative when describing the behavior of the function, the default state was: "Limit Ad Tracking -- Off" Apple are far too good with usability for either of those choices to be accidental.
    - Steko 13y ago
      So why change it in iOS 7 if they are out to "bury" it and trick people? "Apple is far to good to do X" is not a strong argument. They can and do make mistakes all over the place including their strongest areas.
      - sailfast 13y ago
        I applaud the move to the "Privacy" context menu, however you must also consider that in addition to the "Advertising" menu at the bottom, there is also a "System Services" sub-menu located at the bottom of Location Services which delivers location-based ads, diagnostics and usage, frequent locations, and "popular near me" settings. These were not exactly called out before the iOS7 update, and nobody reads the ToS so I was disappointed to see it buried so deeply given the focus on privacy with the new menu.
warmfuzzykitten 13y ago
My iPhone doesn't have Preferences, it has Settings. What kind of iPhone is he using?
- warmfuzzykitten 13y ago
  Ok, it's under Settings > Privacy. Odd mistake to make. When you get there, there's a Clear History option, so I guess if you've been to evil places lately, you can clear your tracks. Mine has been on forever and I don't believe an ad has ever been pushed to me, location-aware or not.
  - kingnight 13y ago
    I seem to make that mistake often when explaining where something is. Perhaps its due to iOS's counterpart, OS X, having 'System Preferences'.
eddieroger 13y ago
Not news, and also not news, it's easily disabled. Besides, all this shows is that the phone knows, and there are actual uses for it that make me leave it on, like predicting how long it will take to get home or common places I go. As for it's use in advertising, that can be reset as well as opposed to disabled, so I reset that periodically. Also, this isn't unique to iPhone, [1] and hasn't been since it was discovered on Android as well. 1. http://thenextweb.com/google/2011/04/21/its-not-just-the-iphone-android-stores-your-location-data-too/#!p7JT9 http://thenextweb.com/google/2011/04/21/its-not-just-the-iph...
- mikeyanderson 13y ago
  Everyone that I showed this screen to on their own phone hadn't ever seen that it existed. It's one thing for the phone to log it in some database. It's another that anyone could pick up your phone and see where you live, work, what time you come home, etc.
  - cmsj 13y ago
    it'd be awfully tough for them to just go to the Contacts app, pull up your card and see your address :( Use a passcode for goodness sake! Actively protect your data!
    - halviti 13y ago
      Passcodes are easily bypassed. Buy an XRY and you can get into any phone. http://www.msab.com http://www.msab.com Same way the police do it.
      - superuser2 13y ago
        Modern iPhones are entirely encrypted while locked. The key resides in a crypto processor and is irreversibly destroyed during a brute-force attempt (provided you have this turned on). These devices need certain plists from the phone's trusted iTunes library (if it even has one) to "break" into modern iPhones. (Some) Android phones might be vulnerable to these though.
mnem 13y ago
"Your iPhone maps and logs where you are and when you're there" ... only after asking if you want to enable location services when you get a new phone. That's not exactly "on by default".
__m 13y ago
holy sh*t they stole it from android!

34 points by mikeyanderson 13y ago

I know this has been discussed many times since the iOS 7 beta builds first release, but recently there has been a nice interface Google has released to see this data from your google account. Uses anything logged in with your google account (phone, computer, tablet, etc) and puts it in one central area. https://maps.google.com/locationhistory/b/0/ https://maps.google.com/locationhistory/b/0/

dpcx 13y ago
This interface has actually been in existence (in one form or another) since Latitude first launched.

pseudometa 13y ago

Unlike the NSA, I actually see some personal benefit to this.

jreed91 13y ago
I agree too. I like being able to pull down my notification center and have it know where I usually go to provide relevant traffic alerts.

joslin01 13y ago

Now if I could only find the switch to stop the NSA from tracking me.

eyesee 13y ago

A big difference with this over Google (or NSA for that matter) is the location history stays on your phone and isn't logged on a server.

mikeyanderson 13y ago
I believe when I first looked at it, the option to store on their server was turned on. But also people are carrying around a subpoena-ble log of everywhere they've been without knowing.

digikata 13y ago

Isn't this basically one use of the motion co-processor collected data that's a feature in the iPhone 5s?

ivanoats 13y ago

Creepy! What kind of evil things could be done with this data?

chadgeidel 13y ago

Hasn't this been known for quite some time? Here's an article from 2011: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/04/iphone-tracks/ http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/04/iphone-tracks/

mikeyanderson 13y ago
There's a big difference between a data file hiding somewhere and a full on UI with logs and maps that anyone could pick up your phone and see. Everyone I've showed this too was surprised.

egwynn 13y ago

Was this ever a secret? I thought this was a relatively prominently advertised feature in iOS 7.

sailfast 13y ago

This has been "known" for a long time, but not known widely enough that I see it turned off when I ask my friends with iPhones about their data. Typically the first thing I do is ask them if they want targeted ads pushed to them based on their location and they say "no" and I proceed to borrow their phone and disable everything buried in that menu under Privacy except (perhaps) the compass calibration.

Steko 13y ago
How clever of them to "bury" all the privacy settings in a Settings menu called "Privacy".
- mikeyouse 13y ago
  Up until iOS7, the ad-tracking settings were under: "Settings" -> "General" -> "About" -> "Advertising" and not with the rest under "Privacy". And then they helpfully used a double-negative when describing the behavior of the function, the default state was: "Limit Ad Tracking -- Off" Apple are far too good with usability for either of those choices to be accidental.
  - Steko 13y ago
    So why change it in iOS 7 if they are out to "bury" it and trick people? "Apple is far to good to do X" is not a strong argument. They can and do make mistakes all over the place including their strongest areas.
    - sailfast 13y ago
      I applaud the move to the "Privacy" context menu, however you must also consider that in addition to the "Advertising" menu at the bottom, there is also a "System Services" sub-menu located at the bottom of Location Services which delivers location-based ads, diagnostics and usage, frequent locations, and "popular near me" settings. These were not exactly called out before the iOS7 update, and nobody reads the ToS so I was disappointed to see it buried so deeply given the focus on privacy with the new menu.

warmfuzzykitten 13y ago

My iPhone doesn't have Preferences, it has Settings. What kind of iPhone is he using?

warmfuzzykitten 13y ago
Ok, it's under Settings > Privacy. Odd mistake to make. When you get there, there's a Clear History option, so I guess if you've been to evil places lately, you can clear your tracks. Mine has been on forever and I don't believe an ad has ever been pushed to me, location-aware or not.
- kingnight 13y ago
  I seem to make that mistake often when explaining where something is. Perhaps its due to iOS's counterpart, OS X, having 'System Preferences'.

eddieroger 13y ago

Not news, and also not news, it's easily disabled. Besides, all this shows is that the phone knows, and there are actual uses for it that make me leave it on, like predicting how long it will take to get home or common places I go. As for it's use in advertising, that can be reset as well as opposed to disabled, so I reset that periodically. Also, this isn't unique to iPhone, [1] and hasn't been since it was discovered on Android as well. 1. http://thenextweb.com/google/2011/04/21/its-not-just-the-iphone-android-stores-your-location-data-too/#!p7JT9 http://thenextweb.com/google/2011/04/21/its-not-just-the-iph...

mikeyanderson 13y ago
Everyone that I showed this screen to on their own phone hadn't ever seen that it existed. It's one thing for the phone to log it in some database. It's another that anyone could pick up your phone and see where you live, work, what time you come home, etc.
- cmsj 13y ago
  it'd be awfully tough for them to just go to the Contacts app, pull up your card and see your address :( Use a passcode for goodness sake! Actively protect your data!
  - halviti 13y ago
    Passcodes are easily bypassed. Buy an XRY and you can get into any phone. http://www.msab.com http://www.msab.com Same way the police do it.
    - superuser2 13y ago
      Modern iPhones are entirely encrypted while locked. The key resides in a crypto processor and is irreversibly destroyed during a brute-force attempt (provided you have this turned on). These devices need certain plists from the phone's trusted iTunes library (if it even has one) to "break" into modern iPhones. (Some) Android phones might be vulnerable to these though.

mnem 13y ago

"Your iPhone maps and logs where you are and when you're there" ... only after asking if you want to enable location services when you get a new phone. That's not exactly "on by default".

__m 13y ago

holy sh*t they stole it from android!