By this point, you’ve no doubt heard that your iPhone is collecting location data on you and storing it for about a year. Whether you’re actually concerned about privacy issues, you’re probably at least a little interested to see what this data actually looks like. You’re in luck. There’s an easy way to view this data on a Mac with a free application called iPhoneTracker, and I think it’s important to know what location information is actually collected. So, let me show you how.
Viewing your iPhone’s tracked location data is dead simple thanks to an application for Mac called iPhoneTracker. Before you get your Underoos in a twist, worried that this app is going to share on the Internet where you’ve been (is it really that big of a secret?), know that iPhoneTracker is an open source application, meaning anyone can look at the code. This should stop you from worrying that this is merely a scheme to get you to upload your location file to the net so “they” can, I don’t know, stalk you or something? If you don’t believe it, look at the code; that’s why it’s open source.
After you have the file downloaded, just launch it. You should see a map with circles of varying sizes all over the place. Since triangulating your location based on cell towers isn’t the most accurate method of getting your location, circles aren’t 100% spot-on and may even be in places you’ve never been before. But they should give you a pretty good picture of where you’ve taken your iOS device (or previous iOS device who’s image was transferred to a newer iOS device) over the past year. The map can be moved around, zoomed and you can even hit the play button to see the dots move through time.
What I found most interesting about my location record is that it doesn’t have a single point representing my residence, which is where you’d expect to see the biggest data point! As you can probably tell, I’m not all the worried about this record. I honestly wish Apple would make this into an app or something similar with the option to turn it off for those of us who may be concerned. I’d love to have a record of where I spent my time in the past as an image, or interactive map. I just think that’d be interesting to look at, like it is here.
Then again, I’m the type of person who likes data, charts and statistics.
The real reason why some people are concerned about this data is that it’s so easily found on your Mac. Your iOS device doesn’t even need to be attached to your Mac to view this record. Hypothetically, a virus could be released to upload your data to the net without your approval. That said, I’m betting if someone has access to your Mac (virus or not), there are probably bigger potential privacy concerns to worry about than where you’ve been for the past year. In any event, now you know.
Product [iPhoneTracker]
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