Privacy concerns give iPhone flesh wound

FOR YEARS, people like me have speculated that the new flavor-of-the-week smart phone might be an "iPhone killer." Wholesale Battery

So far, none of them has inflicted as much as a flesh wound.

But we keep hoping and hyping. Wholesale Computers
Now it seems that Apple itself may have created an iPhone killer, and it's not a new phone.

There was an uproar over privacy this week when it was reported that iPhones and 3G iPads and iPad 2s track every move you make, whether you want them to or not, and store that information. And you can't turn it off. And it's unencrypted on your phone.

Two researchers made this discovery and blogged about it this week, creating quite a ruckus.LASER POINTERS

If you're curious, there's an app called iPhoneTracker that will show you how good a job your phone has been doing of keeping tabs on your movements. This information is also stored on any computer you sync your phone with.

PC Magazine, which has done the most in- depth reporting on this, was at first outraged. A columnist wrote this is a deal-breaker and because of it, he would not buy an iPhone. wholesale netbook online

Yesterday PC Magazine toned things down yesterday, saying, "Apple isn't the only company collecting data in this manner" and that there's a question about "how much Apple really knows about your whereabouts." wholesale ebook reader
The fact is that many of us enable features and download apps that make it easy for people to track us. GPS is a wonderful thing. Using it, you can find the nearest restroom when you have to go really bad. And we give up some privacy to get that kind of information--the location of the nearest ATM, directions to a restaurant, etc. Google Maps is wonderful. We willingly "check in" on Facebook and Tweet what bar we're at late at night. wholesale digital picture frame

So what's the big deal?

The problem is that the data stored on the iPhone and iPad is unencrypted and unprotected, and anyone with access to your devices can tell where you've been in the last year, since IOS 4 came out.


But maybe it's not a deal-breaker.

Lifehacker reports that Untracked, a free "jailbreak app" installed through Cydia, discreetly wipes the location history on your iPhone without putting an icon on your screen.

Before this news even broke, my editor was amazed at how willing people are to be tracked. A friend's wife watches his every move, with his phone's GPS even telling her what hole he's on at the golf course. "It's like a ball and chain," my editor said.

True, but it could be used to your advantage. Maybe that friend is really going to Vegas for the day and handing his phone off to a buddy who's going to church, then playing golf.