IPHONE SECRETLY TRACKING HOW DULL YOUR LIFE IS
Apple iPhones secretly track and record their ownersâ location, a potentially devastating privacy breach that experts warn could force people to face the fact that they never really go anywhere interesting.One man's entire life is centered on the New Jersey Turnpike.British researchers who uncovered the hidden file say it logs the phoneâs whereabouts for the previous 10 months, and includes a date and time stamp with each location. They also created a program allowing users to upload their data and build a map that researchers termed âremarkably detailedâ and iPhone owners called âdepressingly accurate.âApple claims the application helps it improve location-based services, but iPhone users were upset.âI find it absolutely outrageous that my phone has been secretly documenting the fact that for nearly the past year, I have been going, basically, nowhere,â said Daphne Coleridge, a receptionist and mother of two in Houston. âThis is a map of tedium. Home, school, work, store, home, school, work, store, homeâ¦ waitâ¦ dentist. I stand corrected.ââWith a few exceptions, Iâve spent the last 10 months of my life within 20 miles of the New Jersey Turnpike,â added Caldwell, N.J. resident Brian Porteri. âIâm not so much angry that Apple knows this information, Iâm angry that I know this information.âExpressing the fears of many iPhone owners, Porteri said he is concerned the information could fall into the wrong hands. âIf my dad gets a hold of this file, I am screwed,â he said. âIt will validate everything heâs ever said about me.âPsychologists, in fact, are encouraging iPhone users not to attempt a mapping.âUnless youâre a Saudi prince or Charlie Sheen, you probably wonât like what you find,â said Dr. Martin Landreaux of Chicagoâs IT Institute. âIn medical terms we call the experience a ârepiphanyâ â the sudden, insightful realization that youâre pretty much doing the same things over and over again.âDespite the widespread outrage, however, not everyone finds the app offensive.âI value routine, so for me and my wife, it confirms our life is stable,â said Mark Tedeschi, a computer programmer in London. âIt shows I usually go to the same places: work, the shops, our flat, and my best mate Danâs house. I mapped my wifeâs iPhone and itâs the same with her: work, the shops, our flat, and my best mate Danâs house. Day after day, weâre both doing exactly â¦ hang on.â