iPhone recording location data

OllyM

OllyM

OllyM

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New Jersey, USA
Not sure if anybody else has posted about this, but the iPhone/3G iPad records your location constantly, and you can read this data using a program you can get here

It produces a map like this:

iphonetracker.png


It's scarily accurate! Has anybody else tried it? :D
 
I've tried it, says i've been to places i've never been to before!

But otherwise about 75% accurate here.

Edit: Actually, looking against my photo library I have been there!

Scary stuff!
 
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I've never owned anything Apple and this just made sure i never will, i was about to buy my gf an iphone as a graduation present but i think i'll get her a Glaxay S now
 
Don't be such a drama queen and read this : http://alexlevinson.wordpress.com/2...es-with-the-latest-iphone-tracking-discovery/

1) Apple is not collecting this data.

And to suggest otherwise is completely misrepresenting Apple. I quote:

Apple is gathering this data, but it’s clearly intentional, as the database is being restored across backups, and even device migrations.

Apple is not harvesting this data from your device. This is data on the device that you as the customer purchased and unless they can show concrete evidence supporting this claim – network traffic analysis of connections to Apple servers – I rebut this claim in full. Through my research in this field and all traffic analysis I have performed, not once have I seen this data traverse a network. As rich of data as this might be, it’s actually illegal under California state law:

(a) No person or entity in this state shall use an electronic tracking device to determine the location or movement of a person.

I don’t think that’s a legal battle Apple wants to face considering the sale of over 100 million iDevices worldwide. That raises the question – how is this data used? It’s used all the time by software running on the phone. Built-In applications such as Maps and Camera use this geolocational data to operate. Apple provides an API for access to location awareness called Core Location. Here is Apple’s description of this softare library:

The Core Location framework lets you determine the current location or heading associated with a device. The framework uses the available hardware to determine the user’s position and heading. You use the classes and protocols in this framework to configure and schedule the delivery of location and heading events. You can also use it to define geographic regions and monitor when the user crosses the boundaries of those regions.

Seems pretty clear. So now the question becomes why did this “hidden” file secretly appear in iOS 4?
Click to expand...
 
how'd you get this to work in windows ?
am i right in thinking if you upgrade your FW and set the phone up as new and not from a backup it will start the logging process again ( from the new date )
 
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GJ02 said:
how'd you get this to work in windows ?
am i right in thinking if you upgrade your FW and set the phone up as new and not from a backup it will start the logging process again ( from the new date )
Click to expand...

No, to my knowledge it will grab the data from the phone first..
 
Olly your location looks like an ostrich running :P

Gonna go do mine now, wonder would it will look like!
 
Maybe you guys might be able to help me here.

My OSX version is 10.5.8 but the zip application from the site doesn't want to run as it says the app doesn't run on this version of OSX.

Downloaded the TAR version which is just files not compiled into an app i think.

Is there anyway to view the tracking data this way?
I'm running the index.html file from the tar just now, giving me a map which is currently just saying 'loading' and taking up like 20% cpu


Any thoughts?
Thanks!
 
lolz why would you want to waste 10 mins of your life looking at a computer screen at where you know you have been ?

yep, i went there
yep, i went there
 
GJ02 said:
lolz why would you want to waste 10 mins of your life looking at a computer screen at where you know you have been ?

yep, i went there
yep, i went there
Click to expand...

tbh I just wanna see the pretty pattern that iv created with my manoeuvres :cool:
 
Embed said:
Maybe you guys might be able to help me here.

My OSX version is 10.5.8 but the zip application from the site doesn't want to run as it says the app doesn't run on this version of OSX.

Downloaded the TAR version which is just files not compiled into an app i think.

Is there anyway to view the tracking data this way?
I'm running the index.html file from the tar just now, giving me a map which is currently just saying 'loading' and taking up like 20% cpu

Any thoughts?
Thanks!
Click to expand...

It's an app called "iPhonetracker.app".

http://static.openheatmap.com.s3.amazonaws.com/iPhoneTracker.app.zip

If that doesn't work then you can't run it.


GJ02 said:
naughty apple, wonder why they done this ?
Click to expand...

It's not naughty. It's clearly stated in section 4b of the EULA or whatever it is that you immediately click through in iTunes when you first bought it.

If you think Apple is the only one that does this then you are very much mistaken!
 
iDroid84 said:
It possibly could be a re-design to the way it handled data and therefore needing to read a file to plot and graph the findings.
Click to expand...

I didn't quote the whole article, if you had read it it would have told you....

2) This hidden file is neither new nor secret.

It’s just moved. Location services have been available to the Apple device for some time. Understand what this file is – a log generated by the various radios and sensors located within the device. This file is utilized by several operations on the device that actually is what makes this device pretty “smart”. This file existed in a different form prior to iOS 4, but not in form it is today.

Currently, consolidated.db lies within the “User Data Partition” on the device. This is a logical filesystem that maintains non-system level privileges and where most of the data is stored. When you perform an iOS Backup through iTunes, it is backing up this partition. Prior to iOS 4, a file called h-cells.plist actually existed in the /root/Library/caches/locationd folder, but with hidden access from other software and applications. h-cells.plist contained much of the same information regarding baseband radio locations as consolidated.db does now, but in Apple Property List format rather than sqlite3. Through my work with various law enforcement agencies, we’ve used h-cells.plist on devices older than iOS 4 to harvest geolocational evidence from iOS devices.

So lets recap.

h-cells.plist = Pre iOS 4 / Radio Logs including Geolocational Data / Hidden from Forensic Extraction (usually)

consolidated.db = iOS 4+ / Radio logs including geolocational Data / Easily acquired through simple forensic techniques

The change comes with a feature introduced in iOS 4 – Mutlitasking and Background Location Services. Apps now have to use Apple’s API to operate in the background – remember, this is not pure unix we’re dealing with – it is only a logical multitasking through Apple’s API. Because of these new APIs and the sandbox design of 3rd party applications, Apple had to move access to this data. Either way, it is not secret, malicious, or hidden. Users still have to approve location access to any application and have the ability to instantly turn off location services to applications inside the Settings menu on their device. That does not stop the generation of these logs, however, it simply prevents applications from utilizing the APIs to access the data.
Click to expand...
 
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