Thanks Apple


#1 reason I refuse to buy a smartphone or a GPS.
I refuse to buy one because they are entirely superfluous to my needs, and heavily overpriced at that. However this just cements the decision even more.
 
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Did you know that your mobile phone provider track all your moves (triangulation with the antennas) and keep the data in their servers?


So I don't think a locale db on a device is a real problem.


(anyway, I don't own an iPod, neither an iPad or an iPhone, and I will probably never own those
tongue.gif
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What's the problem? The iPhone maintains a record of all the cell towers you connect to and their approximate coordinates. They said they were doing this a long time ago and gave some very valid reasons for it. Talk around the office found a lot more very good reasons they may want this information, most of which would require sending it back to Apple which this database does not: it's strictly local. It's actually one of the least intrusive intrusive things that any company has ever done, really.
 
I use a phone from 2004, however I'd be uncomfortable with this 'feature' mainly if my keys and phone were stolen because they would then have a pretty good idea of where I lived.


That will happen, probably soon now the software is available.
 
See, my view is somewhat different from those posted. If my phone got stolen and the network or provider had a way of tracking it and getting it back to be. I'm fine with that. If it bugs you that much then switch off the GPS in your phone. I'm sure that mobile phone providers and networks have been doing this kind of thing (tracking which towers you use) from the start. How else would they be able to provide the kind of customer numbers and coverage data that they are all so proud of.


tl;dr


Nothing new, nothing to be scared of. Nobody's privacy is being sodomised.
 
Does it also save WHEN you've been where?


I mean, yeah, great, if a user has BT or WiFi enabled and someone hacks into his phone, he can find out WHERE he lives and WHEN he usually is at work... awesome ;)


I love my N900. In case it gets lost (or stolen), I can send an SMS and it will send me an eMail where it is (or a picture from the front view, showing who's holding it :) ) and enable SSH so I can connect to it and delete all the important stuff I have there ;)


And if someone changes the SIM card, it immediately sends me an SMS to my other phone telling me the new number.


Now THAT'S why I like Linux phones. They do what I want :D
 
I love my N900. In case it gets lost (or stolen), I can send an SMS and it will send me an eMail where it is (or a picture from the front view, showing who's holding it :) ) and enable SSH so I can connect to it and delete all the important stuff I have there ;)


And if someone changes the SIM card, it immediately sends me an SMS to my other phone telling me the new number.


Now THAT'S why I like Linux phones. They do what I want :D
Wow, now that's just amazing!
 
See, my view is somewhat different from those posted. If my phone got stolen and the network or provider had a way of tracking it and getting it back to be. I'm fine with that. If it bugs you that much then switch off the GPS in your phone. I'm sure that mobile phone providers and networks have been doing this kind of thing (tracking which towers you use) from the start. How else would they be able to provide the kind of customer numbers and coverage data that they are all so proud of.


tl;dr


Nothing new, nothing to be scared of. Nobody's privacy is being sodomised.

There is something new here, that the information can be extracted from a stolen iPhone. If they have your keys too then they can locate your car and house from the information.
 
Does it also save WHEN you've been where?


I mean, yeah, great, if a user has BT or WiFi enabled and someone hacks into his phone, he can find out WHERE he lives and WHEN he usually is at work... awesome ;)


I love my N900. In case it gets lost (or stolen), I can send an SMS and it will send me an eMail where it is (or a picture from the front view, showing who's holding it :) ) and enable SSH so I can connect to it and delete all the important stuff I have there ;)


And if someone changes the SIM card, it immediately sends me an SMS to my other phone telling me the new number.


Now THAT'S why I like Linux phones. They do what I want :D

WOW!
 
Does it also save WHEN you've been where?


I mean, yeah, great, if a user has BT or WiFi enabled and someone hacks into his phone, he can find out WHERE he lives and WHEN he usually is at work... awesome ;)
If someone has your phone, they've already got your contacts, webcache, email, possibly credit card information, and who knows what else. Seriously, this "tracking" data is extremely tame next to the wealth of information that you've already made available on your phone entirely of your own free will. ;)
 
There is something new here, that the information can be extracted from a stolen iPhone. If they have your keys too then they can locate your car and house from the information.

Of course it bears saying that this *could* be used to return the phone to its original owner. I still don't like it, though.
 
Does it also save WHEN you've been where?


I mean, yeah, great, if a user has BT or WiFi enabled and someone hacks into his phone, he can find out WHERE he lives and WHEN he usually is at work... awesome ;)
If someone has your phone, they've already got your contacts, webcache, email, possibly credit card information, and who knows what else. Seriously, this "tracking" data is extremely tame next to the wealth of information that you've already made available on your phone entirely of your own free will. ;)

Not at all. I could encrypt the data.


And as soon as I find out it's missing, I can contact my phone via SMS and enable SSH for me, log in and delete all data within seconds.


So whoever grabs it has to extract the data before I access it :)
 
Not at all. I could encrypt the data.


And as soon as I find out it's missing, I can contact my phone via SMS and enable SSH for me, log in and delete all data within seconds.


So whoever grabs it has to extract the data before I access it :)
What happens if they change the sim card so that you can't sms it? Is ssh still enabled?
 
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