No, doubt iPhone is a hip communication tool with a great design. Who would not like to have one?
But will you still want to have one if you knew that
iPhone Records Every Step You Make
Will you really? Hmm, well maybe not.
Guardian has the story and in the next few lines I will provide you with a very concise
Legal Analysis
What Apple’s iPhone seems to do is usually referred to as location data processing. In the European Union the latter is governed by Directive 2009/136/EC – the so called ePrivacy Directive.
Apple acts as a provider of a value added service in the sense of the ePrivacy Directive since it processes location data beyond what is necessary for the transmission of a communication or the billing thereof.
Apple is generally allowed to do so, however, under the condition that it fully informs its users of its data collection and processing
Prior To Obtaining Their Consent
From what I read, no users have been informed and their consent has not yet been obtained.
Besides the fact that it disrespects the privacy of its users, Apple is in a clear breach of applicable data protection and telecommunications legislation.
Just knew about this issue. This is what I am afraid of on this mobile eras — our privacy no more.
Dana recently posted..How Does SMS Short Message Service Work
Hi,
We should definitely be more concerned with and about our privacy. Nowadays it represents a valuable commodity and corporations pursue to get the control over it.
Thank you very much for your useful advice.
[…] week I covered the (very likely) unlawful data collection practice of Apple’s iPhone and this week I decided to spend some words on the fact […]
with the new iOS 4.3.3, apple will not make a copy of the iPhone memory in iTunes if the location based services are switched off. So the “crowd-sourced” database will not be stored in iTunes, respectively your movement (based on the mobile cells) is also not stored.
Stefan,
it is good to have a comment of yours again -).
The thing with location based services is (at least under European law) that they need to be designed with a clear and precise “opt-in” and not with an “opt-out” function.
I think, most of the mobiles keep track of our data these days…Technology is always having a negative side
Shaan,
thanks for your comment!
What you say is basically correct – mobile operators do track and even store our data. While these acts are often mandated by law, there are also legal provisions governing the once obtained data. The purpose of such provisions is to strike a balance between technological demands and individuals’ rights and liberties. They are not perfect, but it is far better to have them, than to miss them.
The case of Apple is somewhat different.
Apple is not an operator of a network, but in this present case nonetheless collected and retained their users’ data. For that they had been under the clear obligation to obtain the corresponding permission, what they never did and, owing to bad luck, were caught red-handed.
[…] Do you remember Apple’s disrespect of their customers’ privacy? […]
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