iPhone Users, Beware!

The iPhone may have been the first to store such a vast amount of information (which is why it made it into the title of Zdziarski's book), but now there are several phones that are comparable to the iPhone (i.e. anything that runs Google Droid).

I haven't read the book, but I will bet that a lot of the info can be applied to all of today's leading smartphones, not just the iPhone, so it isn't just iPhone users that should be aware...

The original article says specifically that it is much easier for police to get info from an iPhone than a Droid.

"Law-enforcement experts said iPhone technology records a wealth of information that can be tapped more easily than BlackBerry and Droid devices to help police learn where you've been, what you were doing there and whether you've got something to hide."

True, but it doesn't mention how much time hackers have spent getting into the iPhone vs. getting into Droid. It's not necessarily harder, the effort hasn't been put in yet...

There are way more iPhone users, so a hacker is going to target them first (similar to the Viruses on Windows vs Mac phenomena)

Agreed, the Droid phones are still pretty new to the market. I think that it's a matter of time before similar information comes to light as Google isn't the most trustworthy company when it comes to privacy and data collection.

Of course, that is just me assuming since I don't have one to play around with.

A separate point I should make...

If it helps catch criminals, I think that is great!
Maybe this post should be retitled to Criminals With iPhones, Beware!

(or to my last comment, "Criminals With Smartphones, Beware!")

I didn't want the title to speak only to criminals because sometimes you don't have to be a criminal to be investigated -- you could merely be pegged as 'suspicious' for whatever reason by law enforcement, which is pretty subjective. That is why I said it would be helpful for catching criminals; however, it could also be wrongly used against innocent people too.

Plus with the constantly increasing restrictions and laws we have, it's only a matter of time until everyone is a criminal.

Dumb Criminal of the Day Award. In San Francisco, in broad daylihgt in the middle of a busy public area, An IPHONE (4) was snatched out of the hand of a woman holding it out in front of herself for better viewing.

The Biker took off, but found himself in the hands of police not many minutes later.

What he had not noticed, was that this phone was being used in a public demonstration of the potential security benefits of the IPHONE. Had the biker looked down, he would have seen the map of San Francisco, with the curser following his path across town.

The curser being the woman, right?

I often wonder if we are asking all the wrong questions. Perhaps the question shouldn't be" "Should this technology be allowed?" but rather: "How can we make this technology better so that it can't be abused to hurt innocent people?" This technology can be really helpful to catching criminals and proving innocence, and for those reasons it should be allowed. But if authorities abuse the power and start needlessly "checking and tracking" people, it makes it harder to support this new advance in technology.

This technology can be really helpful, but if people can't trust it, there will be resistance. If anything comes of this resistance, time can only tell. Authorities should be as adamant in protecting their innocent citizens as they are catching criminals. In order to do this, I think there needs to be rules or changes to the technology so that citizens can still retain some shred of privacy. Great article Sharkles.

How can we make this technology tamper-proof so that innocent people can lead "private" lives?

It can't be prevented... it is a negative result of trying to prevent criminal activity, and authorities accept that side-effect.
I can think of other attempts at stopping/catching criminals that also result in a negative impact on the innocent. I won't list them though because I don't want off-topic replies on things that have been debated way too many times...

Don't encourage people to waste their time giving opinions (or "suggested solutions") on what can be done to prevent a negative impact on innocent lives... you are just asking people to regurgitate the same naive comments that we have all seen before, and that's not what CR4 about.

Couldn't care less. I already assume that using any device jeopardizes your "privacy" in some way, and I'm not a criminal. Also not worried about someone "tracking me down". I'm a 2nd Dan black belt in traditional Tae Kwon Do and the state I live in is a must issue state, if you catch my drift, so it's likely it wouldn't go well for them.

I'm not too far from the other end of the spectrum re: personal defense. My conflict response has always been avoidance. But I agree on the "Couldn't care less" and "tracking me down". I'm at the age where I just may need someone to track me down...

The advantages FAR outweigh the disadvantages, but it will probably become necessary to add laws similar to wire-tapping laws.

I mean it's along the same lines as the scanning at the air port. You are always free to not use the service and thereby be as private as a hermit, should you so desire. Going out into public incurs a degree of exposure. Be honest, be courageous, and get on with your life. Of course balancing the rights of the individual with public safety is always going to be a delicate matter deserving of much thought and controversy.

While this is creepy, I would hope that people are not doing things that would need to be brought up in court later on. How about don't commit any crimes that would require police to investigate your phone history. And lets be real, technology is getting crazy enough that they'll be able to track down your activities without having an iPhone- computers, GPS, cars, satellites, etc. Just accept that we have no privacy anymore.