OT: Has your Iphone been Spying on You?

Thank you for that conspicuous display of ignorance, Bill. Pity you didn't do a bit of background checking on Steve Gibson before you raced to malign him. His pedigree is unimpeachable.

Dear oh dear, Bill. What are we to do with you? Steve Gibson isn't involved in anti-virus/anti-spyware in any way. He wrote the leading program for HDD recovery (Spinrite) and that's all. He does plug Spinrite in his podcasts, but it's usually no more than a passing mention out of a 100 minute broadcast, and as I said - NOTHING TO DO WITH ANTI-SPYWARE. Have you got that through your thick skull now? (no offence intended).

I think it's safest to assume that any device containing a microphone (whether you know it or not) and communications facilities is spying at all times.

Reminds me of Amazon's response, if you suggest that Alexa devices might be listening to your conversations.

"Oh no! It only listens when you say 'Alexa' (or which ever wake up word you use)" - glossing over how it can achieve that feat.

Mindless paranoia.

Well, there is always a fine line between being helpful and spying. It also depends what is done with data. Far worse is Google Chrome and google pixel phones.

I'll try to simplify this for your addled brain, Bill:

1. Yes, all of the last 5 generations of Iphone have this capability built in and a remote party with the access this exploit permits can go anywhere they want on your Iphone, see all your data and photos etc and listen in on your calls.
2. No anti-spyware could have discovered it. It's NOT spyware!

You clearly didn't follow the link and listen to the discussion. OR, you did, but didn't understand a word of it. Only you know which but I think I can guess.

There's a fourth option which I really should have thought of earlier: you simply can't resist trolling. The plain fact is that a previously unknown backdoor into Apple Iphones has been discovered, so whenever the 'authorities' come a-calling with a warrant to spy on someone, Apple can no longer claim even *they* can't access a locked phone - which is what they've been claiming up til now.

It's completely realistic, and is what is happening all the time. It's how Google makes it's money, and as has been stated many times before,

*YOU* are the product.

"Won't be spied on"?! How little you understand. It's nothing to do with secrets (although if you have those they are fair game as well). It's all to do with selling something to you which you didn't know you needed. And, of course, it helps if the advert is personalised to you - if you have a Google account, for example, you have the option of getting personalised adverts or nonpersonalised adverts. Note that you can't switch adverts off, though - you'll get one or the other.

You *are* being monitored all the time if you have a cellphone. At the very least if it's switched on your position can be located by triangulation from cell towers. That's not very accurate so, unless you switch off all location apps and/or services (and I don't believe that's completely possible), your position is known accurately within a metre or so. Remember too to switch off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. If you don't, your phone will try to link to every Wi-Fi and Bluetooth it comes across. That includes phones of passers-by, so if your location services are switched off, but theirs aren't, your location is known accurately via their location.

How can that be used to advertise? Well, let's assume that your location is monitored, and it shows that every Thursday around 11 am on your way somewhere, you pass a Wonka Chocolate shop. Perhaps in the past you've bought something there, or at another Wonka shop, and that will be recorded. On the next Thursday around 1045, you will get an advert on your phone about Wonka's latest special offer. As you pass the shop, you might go in and buy something because of that advert. Or perhaps not. But you might do in a couple of weeks, and that's how it works. Yes, it costs money, as does all advertising. But it works. When did you last

*not* see an advert somewhere - in a magazine, in the street, on TV, when browsing the internet, etc?

My Android 13 (Xiaomi MIUI 14) phone has five apps/services with with "location": Fused Location - com.android.location.fused Google Location History - com.google.android.gms.location.history Location EM2 - com.mediatek. lbs.em2.ui LPPe Service - com.mediatek.location.lppe.main Mtk Geofence - com.mediatek.location.mktgeofence

You can do a search on these to find out what they do, but just as an example for the last one, see

. Quote: "For marketers, the focus is on push notifications and mobile advertisements that can be tied to a business location."

Very true. However, Apple would have a defence if they could show that the backdoor was ordered by the NSA (or whoever) on the understanding that it would only be used in cases involving a severe threat to national security and nothing less. That scenario is a distinct possibility and mooted by Steve Gibson in the podcast.

Pray tell: *which* "important part of the story" have I failed to understand in your esteemed opinion? Because AFAICS, it's *you* who've failed to understand some of the critical aspects.

I rest my case.

You seem to believe that the person who has the last word has won the debate. That's not how others see it, Bill. The fact is you resorted to lies to try to win the argument and on this occasion for once, you got found out.

You must think I was born yesterday. I don't need to do any such thing. All anyone who in the unlikely event gives a shit has to do is simply read this thread to see who the blatant liar here is. Simple as that.