Jailbreak app stops iPhone track-tracking in its tracks

By on Apr 21, 2011 at 3:12 PM
mobile April 21, 2011

Blogs were outraged Wednesday following the rediscovery that 3G-enabled iOS devices like the iPhone store a record of users’ GPS positions in a local file. Of course every person with an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch agreed to let Apple store and use this information, but it’s much more fun to get outraged than it is to read terms and conditions. No matter — for those who don’t want their iPhones to remember that they were pillaging a Dunkin’ Donuts instead of working out at the gym, there is now a simple answer: untrackerd. Jailbroken iDevice owners can now install a simple utility that will stop their devices from storing this information. The app is free and is available in the BigBoss repository, but the app might just be a temporary solution — according to Daring Fireball’s John Gruber, the file that stores location history is actually a cache file that should be cleared out occasionally but isn’t due to a bug or an oversight. Gruber thinks the bug will be fixed in the next iOS update, though no timeline is available at the moment.

[Via @chronic]

Read [untrackerd] Read [Daring Fireball]

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45 Comments

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  • Bullyboyb

    Funny how you try and minimise such an important issue to most people. Such a trait is commonly found in mentally unstable people….. Wonder what this says about bgr…….

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=503037611 Brett Smith

      Such an important issue they didn’t ask if it did it nor did they read the user agreement?

  • Lechero

    OMG my phone knows where i am, of fuck its the end of the world.

    Next…

    The color blue hasnt really been blue this whole time. omg lets get pissed about this now.

    • Anonymous

      To you it may not matter. But to a woman with a psycho husband, ex-boyfriend, etc. who knows about this info might want to use it, it matters.

      • Joel

        Then such said individual should of read the terms of service. Incompetence is not a defense.

      • KCRic

        Yes, because we all know everyone reads every term of service from front to back all the time. GTFO

        That’s just a douche thing to say. When you got your car did you read every word of the contract? Did you read that 30 pg. terms of service that came with Adobe? Do you read the terms of service for every app you install? How about every page of your credit card contract? Oh, and the back of every receipt from the place you shop at?

        Didn’t think so. Now shut the fu*k up.

      • Matt

        Just to make sure I’m understanding correctly, you’re saying that you have read, in their entirety, the end user license agreement for every piece of software you’ve ever installed, every warranty and safety notice for every piece of electronic or mechanical equipment you’ve ever bought, and every clause of every cable TV, loan, or apartment service contract you’ve ever had?

      • duc696

        how would they get this information?

      • Anonymous

        It’s unencrypted lying on a computer after a sync is done. It would be trivial to collect the files and have them analyzed.

      • Anonymous

        @milky

        If I were a woman in that situation, my crazy ex-whatever would not have access to my computer either.

        I say everyone calm the he’ll down and see what Apple does in the next update. If they are still tracking after that, THEN raise holy hell. Now’s not the time if you ask me.

    • chichi

      ur a character u know that, its a privacy issue. like the one guy said to u it may not matter, but lets just hope u dont end up with a crazy ex, cuz then maybe ur thinking might change on the issue.

      • Anonymous

        A. How are they going to gain access to this information?
        B. What are they going to do with information of where I’ve been?

        People’s schedules are fairly repetitive. If I’m an ex/stalker, I likely already know where you go on a day-to-day basis. And if this is concerning some abnormality in my schedule, I won’t go there again any time soon. This information won’t benefit any of those parties.

  • jay_max

    Not all terms of a TOS are enforceable…depends on public policy and what the courts do to protect consumers with no bargaining power.

    Because of that, you just can’t be dismissive of this issue by saying people agreed to it.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=503037611 Brett Smith

      So Apple and it’s 300 lawyers wrote up a ToS that wasn’t enforceable legally? They need to minimize it down to 3 good ones apparently.

      • jay_max

        Re-read my comment. I didn’t say the whole TOS was unenforceable. I stated generically that some provisions may not be enforceable in the courts for a variety of reasons. Big difference.

      • Bullyboyb

        @ Brett
        You are clearly someone who thinks lawyers always get it right. You have a lot to learn. Why then do we have all these contract disputes and corporations suing each other plus all these class actions if your so called 300 plus lawyers are always right?
        You need to wake up and realise that apple is not interested in your rights, its interests lie in making as much profit as it can. If that means drawing up terms and conditions that are not explicity or implicitly illegal it will do so until someone challenges them.
        Apple is a profit making organisation with an objective of profit maximisation you only feature in their plans as a consumer who adds to the x amount of idevices bought.

  • http://twitter.com/inket inket

    “record of users’ GPS positions”

    God. It’s cell tower triangulation, NOT GPS. It can be miles off your true location.

    This non-issue is blown out of proportion; The locations aren’t even sent to Apple.

    • KCRic

      You sure about this? Since there are 2 GPS modules in ALL new phones as required by law. One is user controllable the other isn’t, it’s for ‘emergency’ services to pinpoint your position when you dial 911.

      So who’s to say it’s not storing the positions from that module? Plus, cell tower triangulation is only off by a few miles if the reception is really bad. In a high density area it’s very accurate within a couple hundred feet or less. Either way, for a stalker, crazy ex, or some random criminal, access to info that’s accurate within even a mile or two is invaluable.

  • marK

    Do you guys at least get paid to spin/shill for apple?

  • Jroc869

    I understand that people should read terms of service agreements, but important things like we will be watching you shouldnt be burried under a bunch of legal bullshit. obviously if its take this long to find out about it then it was pretty hidden. apple isnt the first or last company to pull this, but i think someone should take a good hard look at the way tos agreements are written out.

    • Joel

      Well I dont know about you but before I agree to anything i read it, if I don’t understand it I don’t sign or accept it.

      It’s not hard, really. People just sign their names or hit accept and don’t even know what they are agreeing to that is their fault, not Apples

      • JasonS

        No you don’t. You’re just saying you do for the sake of argument.

      • KCRic

        Joel, don’t bullshit people. I hate when people try to sound better than everyone else by saying ‘I read all TOS all the all’ no you don’t. We can smell bs every time somebody says that because we know it isn’t true. A person just simply doesn’t have the time or patience to read a 20-50 page document written by lawyers every time they agree to something. Let’s not get started on the fact that most people can’t fully understand them the way their written because we’re not all lawyers.

        So cut the crap you self righteous ass. You’re a POS that doesn’t read the TOS.

      • Anonymous

        Total BS

  • Anonymous

    Is there a program for PC (not MacOS) users to see the tracked data? I would enjoy seeing mine.

    On another note, it really baffles me that most people are giddy to put their drunken escapades, and much more, all over Facebook (which never deletes info from its servers once it is uploaded, *even after* a user “deletes” it) – yet they are “shocked” and “enraged” that a cell phone captures location data!?!? I mean, really? You’re more concerned someone finds out you were at Wal-Mart buying faux leather pants than you are about people seeing you suck your roommate’s toes!?

    • Anonymous

      You can restrict access to your face book page, but Apple didn’t inform you that they are “looking” at you.

      • Anonymous

        Actually, technically they did in the TOS.

        And true, one can restrict FB access to various people, but a user cannot in any way (up to and including “deleting” one’s FB account) restrict access by FB (which can access anything, at any time, indefinitely, in perpetuity) which has acknowledged that they save *EVERYTHING* ever input onto a page, permanently, and without the ability of a user to (ever) delete it.

  • Anonymous

    First of all, to you wise asses out there. No one reads TOSes. Everyone assumes it’s the usual, don’t copy, duplicate or hack the software. Don’t steal, cheat or blame Apple if your phone caches on fire if you leave it in the sun too long.

    No body expects something to the effect that their location will be tracked. Their emails will be parsed. Their SMS will be checked for nasty words. Etc.

    • Joel

      No one is being wise. Being dumb and assuming something isn’t an excuse. I for one read all TOS and legal documents, it’s a very important thing young teens and adults don’t understand.

      Imagine if we could use that excuse for everything in life. I “assumed” is not a defense.

      • Bullyboyb

        Might I remind all you smart arses that keeping going on about reading terms and conditions that these do not affect your statutory rights.
        As I live in the U.K the data protection act clearly states that no one should hold information that is too much for the agreed purposes. I.e if they use this information to provide adverts e.t.c and this is explicity not stated they are in breach, and that you can request in writting all information held about you by any company. They are required to comply with this. Its called a subject access request and if apple fails provide within 28 days such information (All of it) they are liable. Also they have a duty to ensure such information is stored securely. It goes on and on.
        Apple is not only being reckless but leaving itself open to litigation from some blood thirsty lawyers. ( saw it mentioned in a different article that this is a bug or was meant to self delete after a while and that’s not happening)

  • Anonymous

    how do I clear the cache on my mac? i can’t even find the hidden file anywhere.

    • Dnap

      Look in your mommas arse!

      • Bullyboyb

        You have some dirty habits you peeve. Is that what you do? Didn’t think anyone did that. Feel sorry for your poor momma.

  • Matt

    “but it’s much more fun to get outraged than it is to read terms and conditions”

    It’s apparently also more fun to make dismissive, inflammatory, condescending comments than to write a professional article.

    • KPa

      Agreed. There’s no reason for them to be so snarky about this.

    • Anonymous

      The point is Matt this tracking should not be in the terms and conditions because it shouldn’t be on the F@#$% phone in the first place. Jesus it’s no wonder people view Apple consumers as sheep.

    • Matt

      I think my personal objection is less that they’re gathering this data and more that they’re storing it indefinitely in a relatively insecure way. It should probably be moved a ways further towards the “secure” end of the “convenience security” spectrum.

      There’s plenty of legitimate reasons to store location data locally on a mobile device, but not without a reasonable degree of assurance of it remaining private.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_WNDZU5KGMFKQAQAAXZ4OJ7OCZI William

    And for those of us who have iPhone 3G or less and have upgraded to ios4.0 or above the “fix” will not be available because the Lords of Cupertino have stopped supporting the older serfs devices.

    • Anonymous

      Lol. Yeah let’s bitch about a phone from 2008.

    • KCRic

      Fragmentation.

  • Unknown

    Anyone who doesn’t take the time to read Apple’s Terms of Service is basically (albeit without realizing it) agreeing to allow this. I’m not saying that Apple should be permitted to track iDevices – in fact, I’m completely against it – but if you didn’t read the legal agreement, then you have only yourself to blame. 

    • Bullyboyb

      We all know that despite the terms and conditions people will still buy these idevices. Until these terms and conditions are challenged we will never know how legal they are.
      Same as banks who kept charging ridiculously high fees unchallenged and hiding behind “terms and conditions of service” until they were challenged and had to fork out millions in some cases and most of them changed their terms and conditions.

  • Zack

    Even if I were to have read the Terms and Conditions… Would I have been able to opt out of this one feature without losing the ability to use the phone at all??

  • Anonymous

    So you have to break your device not to be tracked? My God people who buy product from this company really are sheep.

    And all the excuses below…… people can you not demand a little privacy, are you so afraid of any criticism of Apple at all???? All you do is by their product can’t you ask for a little respect?????

  • http://www.justmobilephone.com/ Redsnow Jailbreak iOS 4.3.1

    this is the beautiful tweak available ………… i really liked this one

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