Yesterday, “two researchers for O’Reilly media published an article claiming discovery of a hidden tracking system on the iOS 4 operating system,” Alex Levinson blogs. “Using simple techniques, Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden extracted data off of an iOS version 4 device and wrote an open source software utility to effectively graph this data onto a map. As a fellow researcher, I champion their creativity and their development.”
Levinson writes, “As an expert in this field [Lead Engineer for Katana Forensics], I have three points of argument to raise.”
1) Apple is not collecting this data.
2) This hidden file is neither new nor secret, it’s just moved
3) This “discovery” was published months ago
Levinson writes, “I have no problem with what Mr. Warden and Mr. Allan have created or presented on, but I do take issue with them making erroneous claims and not citing previously published work. I’m all for creative development and research, as long as it’s honest.”
Much more in the full article – recommended – here.
[Attribution: Cult of Mac via @Scobleizer. Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Jax44” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
‘untrackerd’ jailbreak utility blocks iOS from storing recorded iPhone location data – April 21, 2011
Apple’s iPhone tracks everywhere you go; stores the info in secret file on the device – April 20, 2011
