CNN.com and Cnet.com have both published articles informing users about the spy like tracking of the Apple iPhone, 3G enabled iPads and the iPod Touch. Researchers have "found what look like secret files on the iPhone that track user location and store it on the device, without the permission of the device owner."
"Alasdair Allan, senior research fellow in astronomy at the University of Exeter, and writer Pete Warden, who discovered the log file and created a tool that lets users see a visualization of that data...The pair note that the data is unencrypted, giving anyone with access to your phone or computer where backups may be stored a way to grab the data and extrapolate a person's whereabouts and routines.
To help users understand more about the data that's being collected, what the risks are, and what they can do about it, CNET has put together an FAQ."
Individuals who have used the tool created to visualize what data you iPhone has stored about your travel and location details are certainly weirded out by it. "Sam Biddle, an editor at Gizmodo, used the downloadable program to map out his recent whereabouts, which he says was a frightening experience."
If you own one of these Apple devices and would like to visualize what information it's stored on you since you purchased it please visit the following website: http://petewarden.github.com/iPhoneTracker/This is a map of everywhere I've been for the last months. Everywhere...the map I was able to generate with mapping software the security duo released visualizes of my life since the day I bought my iPhone 4 in July. Everywhere I've been. Bus trips home. Train trips to visit family. Vacations. Places I'd forgotten I'd even gone. Zoom in on that giant blotch over New York, and you can see my travels, block by block..My entire personal and professional life -- documented by a phone I didn't know was also a tracking device.
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