iphone

Following the explosive news yesterday of Apple mobile devices recording their users every move (for background see here and here), Senator Al Franken is upset and demanding answers from Apple CEO Steve Jobs:

Franken expressed special concern for iPhone and iPad users who are minors, writing that an "estimated 13% of the 108 million iPhones and 19 Million iPad devices sold are used by individuals under the age of 18."

Among Franken's specific questions to Jobs are:

• Why did Apple choose to initiate tracking this data in its iOS 4 operating system?
• Why were Apple consumers never affirmatively informed of the collection and retention of their location data in this manner? Why did Apple not seek affirmative consent before doing so?
• Does Apple believe this conduct is permissible under the terms of its privacy policy?

TPM has Franken’s full letter. It’s great to see a member of Congress take this kind of privacy breach serious. Hopefully more will soon, but in the mean time, I suggest everyone stay clear of Apple products.

It turns out Apple has snuck a “feature” into their latest version of iOS, which powers iPhones and iPads. It’s a little tracking software that logs everywhere you have been:

It turns out that your iPhone is keeping a record of everywhere you've been since June. This data is stored on your phone (or iPad) and computer, easily available to anyone who gets their hands on it. Why? Apple won't say. We're creeped out.

The enormous privacy startle, apparently enabled by this summer's iOS 4 release, was discoveredby two security researchers, one of whom claims he was an Apple employee for five years. They're equally puzzled and disturbed by the location collection: "By passively logging your location without your permission, Apple have made it possible for anyone from a jealous spouse to a private investigator to get a detailed picture of your movements," they explain. All it would take to crack the information out of your iOS device is an easy jailbreak. On your computer, the information can be opened as easily as JPEG using the mapping software that the security experts have made for download--Try it yourself.

Apple didn’t tell anyone about this and there’s not even a way to disable it.

So why in the hell would Apple even do this? One thought was for advertising, but that goes against their policies. Another thought is that the government has asked them. If that’s the case, then why is this only in Apples and not in other mobile devices? I think these would be great questions that Congress should seek answers to.

As a developer one of the problems I have had with Apple is their closed App store and the hurdles that you must conquer just to get an app published. Here’s an example of that:

This week cartoonist Mark Fiore made Internet and journalism history as the first online-only journalist to win a Pulitzer Prize. Fiore took home the editorial cartooning prize for animations he created for SFGate, the website for the San Francisco Chronicle.

I spoke with Fiore about his big win and plans for his business. Fiore is not on staff at the Chronicle, or anywhere else; since 1999, he’s run a syndication business, selling his Flash animations à la carte to TV, newspaper, and magazine websites for about $300 a piece. (The price varies by size of the outlet.) In a typical month, he might have about eight clients. Before 1999, he ran a similar syndication business for his print cartoons, using a lower-price-per-image, higher-volume model.

When I asked about the next phase of his business, curious if it will include a mobile element, Fiore said he’s definitely hopeful about mobile devices. “I think the iPads and anything iPod to iPhone — to maybe a product not made by Apple — will be good or could be good for distributing this kind of thing,” he said.