Reports yesterday revealed that your iPhone and iPad 3G have been secretly logging the date, time, latitude and longitude of every place you have ever been, then storing this information in an unencrypted file on your computer when you sync your device with iTunes.
Untrackerd is a new jaibreak utility that promises to stamp out this invasion of your privacy:
This package installs a daemon (process that can run in the background) to clean consolidated.db file) No new icons are added to your homescreen. There are no options to configure.
Untrackerd is a free utility created by jailbreak developer Ryan Petrich, and it’s now available to download from Cydia.
More recent reports regarding your device’s “tracking” feature suggest that this process is nothing new, and that it isn’t really tracking users at all. Instead, your device stores this information simply to do things like geo-tag your photos.
Your location data is never sent to Apple or any third-party, but what’s worrying for some is that when you sync your device with iTunes, the data is stored in an unencrypted file on your computer; accessible to anyone who gets hold of it.
[via 9to5 Mac]
Killian Bell is a freelance writer based in the U.K. He has an interest in all things tech and also covers Android over at CultofAndroid.com. You can follow him on Twitter via @killianbell.
6 responses to “New ‘Untrackerd’ Jailbreak Hack Stops iOS From Storing Location Data”
So the solution to Apple storing location data on your phone is to install jailbreak software and a jailbreak app by developers you don’t know? Is that the smart solution? I personally don’t doubt the guy is honest but unless you are going to comb through all the code you just don’t know. I’d also guess that the odds of a jailbreak app stealing your data is greater than the odds of someone coming into your house and stealing your location data via your mac. Honestly, it’s fair to complain to Apple that they should encrypt the location data on the back up, but if you’re actually worried about somebody stealing a file to graph your location history, you’ve obviously got much bigger problems to worry about.
you are a fool, if you have ever used open source software, then you should stop right now, the same type of people created your open office and linux destros are the devs who release to cydia…moron
The phone company is a third party that knows where you were and where you are at all times, provided you have your phone with you and its on.