That iOS devices like the iPhone are permanently storing location data has been all over the press last week. This video demonstrates how our tool AlpAlyzer (named after the iPhone default password "alpine") helps in locating and visualizing this data.
YouTube video
The tool itself has not been released yet, since we need to test it on more devices. Anyone willing to contribute their location data file for further research please contact us. And of course, if you have old iOS devices you no longer use, feel free to donate them to Safer-Networking
Story on wired.com
Story on CNN
For Mac users: iPhone Tracker
Background: iOS devices like the iPhone do have a local file, in SQLite3 format, that stores location data associated with cell towers and wifi access points. This data file gets synchronized to the desktop as well during backup. In the Application Data folder, look for Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\, locate your UDID in there, and parse the Manifest.* files (this page describes the format) to locate the backuped version of Library/Caches/locationd/consolidated.db.Open this file in SQLiteAlyzer, for example, to view its data. Or use AlpAlyzer to simplify this process.
While it's not nice to find out my movement has been tracked on my device, it's not like this data was shared or even sent to Apple. Without the danger of this data being "stolen" by jailbroken apps or software on the desktop, it could be neglected, even seen as an advantage for the wardriving community, for example. The spying done by most iPhone apps (those using tracking modules) is more disturbing really!
YouTube video
The tool itself has not been released yet, since we need to test it on more devices. Anyone willing to contribute their location data file for further research please contact us. And of course, if you have old iOS devices you no longer use, feel free to donate them to Safer-Networking
Story on wired.com
Story on CNN
For Mac users: iPhone Tracker
Background: iOS devices like the iPhone do have a local file, in SQLite3 format, that stores location data associated with cell towers and wifi access points. This data file gets synchronized to the desktop as well during backup. In the Application Data folder, look for Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\, locate your UDID in there, and parse the Manifest.* files (this page describes the format) to locate the backuped version of Library/Caches/locationd/consolidated.db.Open this file in SQLiteAlyzer, for example, to view its data. Or use AlpAlyzer to simplify this process.
While it's not nice to find out my movement has been tracked on my device, it's not like this data was shared or even sent to Apple. Without the danger of this data being "stolen" by jailbroken apps or software on the desktop, it could be neglected, even seen as an advantage for the wardriving community, for example. The spying done by most iPhone apps (those using tracking modules) is more disturbing really!