Earlier John wrote about the recent discovery of a secret file on your iPhone, and any computer it syncs to, that records your second-by-second location and stores it forever in an unprotected file on your computer that anyone can access (who knows how).
That post is here, and the information is explosive. As John wrote then, "this has Homeland Security written all over it."
Now there's more. Police in Michigan have been, apparently illegally, snooping through the mobile phones of anyone they wish at traffic stops. (Yes, traffic stops.) They have a high-tech snooping device that can download everything in 1.5 minutes, including hidden files. The device can also reportedly defeat password-protection.
Here's the story from theNewspaper.com, a journal that covers "motoring issues around the world from a political perspective". They are not the only source, however (my emphasis below).
The Michigan State Police have a high-tech mobile forensics device that can be used to extract information from cell phones belonging to motorists stopped for minor traffic violations. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan last Wednesday demanded that state officials stop stonewalling freedom of information requests for information on the program.Note the date — this has been happening since at least 2008. In the linked AppleInsider story from John's original post, we find this:
ACLU learned that the police had acquired the cell phone scanning devices and in August 2008 filed an official request for records on the program, including logs of how the devices were used. The state police responded by saying they would provide the information only in return for a payment of $544,680. The ACLU found the charge outrageous. ...
A US Department of Justice test of the CelleBrite UFED used by Michigan police found the device could grab all of the photos and video off of an iPhone within one-and-a-half minutes. The device works with 3000 different phone models and can even defeat password protections.
"Complete extraction of existing, hidden, and deleted phone data, including call history, text messages, contacts, images, and geotags," a CelleBrite brochure explains regarding the device's capabilities. "The Physical Analyzer allows visualization of both existing and deleted locations on Google Earth. In addition, location information from GPS devices and image geotags can be mapped on Google Maps."
The researchers have concluded that Apple's collection of the data is "intentional," and contacted the company's product security team in an effort to find out the company's reasoning. They did not receive a response.John noted the AT&T link to the NSA. This does indeed have "Homeland Security" written all over it, but only if "Homeland Security" means every local cop in every backwater county who knows about this.
As I said, theNewspaper.com is not the only source for this story. MSNBC has this on the device itself. And here's the Detroit Free Press on the ACLU side of the story.
Stay tuned. Apple Inc., that cool friendly company with the carefully controlled, next-gen, "we're so you" image, may be fronting for the Big Brother of your worst nightmares. They're a real Jekyll-and-Hyde — except that Jekyll is an ad campaign, and Hyde is the one who always answers the door.
GP
PS Note from John: AT&T may very well be involved in this as well. It would be interesting to see if Verizon iPhones are storing the same information, and whether other types of phones are collecting the same information.
