Remember when people were up in arms about how much location data iPhones stored locally?
This is 1000 times worse.
This is 1000 times worse.
Anything Apple does wrong is blown out of proportion. Yes the Apple collected data wasn't encrypted, but now it is.
What if this data is compromised at this CIQ company? I hope the data is traceable to an IMEI number ONLY which would make it okay, but still! Why do they need to receive text messages coming in to the phone???
this was detected on an android device which is a fairly open platform when compared to the iPhone/Windows phones in terms of software transparency, correct? Is there any way to know for certain that Apple/MS aren't doing this exact same/similar sort of thing?
You can't really ever know things "for certain", but considering the number of jailbroken iOS devices in researcher hands it's likely this would have been discovered.
This has been alarmingly on the rise here on HN these days.
http://lifehacker.com/5863895/carrier-iq-how-the-widespread-...
"Update: Our original article stated that the software also came preinstalled on iPhones and dumphones, which has not been confirmed. That information came from this article at Geeks.com, and we actually believe that to be a typo. Considering it hasn't been mentioned in any other source, and that the iPhone isn't on Eckhart's list of affected devices, we're removing it until other sources say otherwise. Thanks to everyone who pointed this out."
With this finding, if someone got possession of your phone, they could apparently discern...nothing. Instead a subset of data is sent to a company contracted by the carriers (or at least one - Sprint) for the purposes of network monitoring/quality monitoring. Of course the carriers already know your location history through time (just as they know every SMS you sent, picture you sent, data you transmitted, voice call you made, etc), whether you're on a smartphone or dumbphone, and everyone knows and is aware of this.
Is this app sending too much data? I guess we'll find out. Is it "1000 times worse" than a forever location log easily exploitable? Not really.
EDIT (while sitting at -4 while the hysterics have their fit of vapours): Moderation in this story has demonstrated to me once and for all that HN is largely populated by ignorant bottom-feeders now. It is a sad state of affairs, and this site desperately needs a turn off moderation from dipshits option for users to toggle.
To get access to your location data on the iPhone, someone would have to steal your phone or get into your itunes account. This is happening in the background.
Where does anyone say that it is being sent to a third party? This rather noob-ish developer noted that they have a keyboard hook, but in no way does that mean that they send all of your keystrokes to a third party.
Honestly I think I expect too much from HN. The level of discourse on here is absolutely no better than any typical blowhard site.
Directly from the article:
> “Our technology is not real time,” he said at the time. "It's not constantly reporting back. It's gathering information up and is usually transmitted in small doses.”
The issue is, we don't know what this software is gathering and sending. It is not being done with consent.
But you're right, this needs to be looked into before getting the pitchforks out. But certainly, having the presence of a keylogger is bad enough in itself.
The meta is pertinent. I expect the sort of knee-jerk reaction among non-software developers. I don't among a more educated in the realm crowd.
There is little chance this company is recording, much less transmitting, everything you type, every message you receive, etc. I would hazard a guess that they do, however, record basic usage patterns to let the carrier know how people are using their devices ("6975 characters average per day, send 256 messages while receiving 12. Spends an average 37 seconds in the dialer.").
This whole story is that they have system event hooks. That's it. Maybe a real security researcher will find something deeper, but as is it's a nothing story of limited interest. When people like you carry it further than reality you just add ignorance to the conversation.