OK, you can take your tinfoil hats off now. German site Heise Online has tested Hackint0sh user XianLi's claims about the iPhone sending its IMEI to Apple while accessing the web. According to Heise and other sources, this is not true:

While the code says "IMEI," which stands for International Mobile Equipment Identity, it seems that the actual IMEI is not transmitted. Using a sniffer, Heise says they were able to get the information that the applications are actually sending. The strings aren't the same as the test iPhone's IMEI and, in fact, each application sends its own unique code.

According to further testing by Rene at blog docpool, these IDs are identical in all iPhones he has tried. The most plausible explanation: the codes could be just application identifiers. Rumor smashed. Mystery solved.

Wow all the Apple haters aren't going to want to hear that.

http://gizmodo.com/gadge...ion-to-apple-324640.php

You are fun.

Microsoft sends non identifiable data without consent and you will rant, and rave, and basically make a complete a** out of yourself.

Apple does it?

Hey...no problem, man...They're the good guys.

Apple is sending data from your phone and computers to god knows who, for god knows what purpose, without informing the user or getting consent and that's the best you've got?

I don't think I've seen a truer representation of "calls it as he sees it". Too bad you can never actually "call it what it is".

This is an application ID which is: "...identical in all iPhones..."

In other news, the MAC Address of your network card comes along with every web request, regardless of OS/device/platform/etc. Something which can be and is used to uniquely identify users and devices.

Keep the trolls coming. ***yawn***

Ouch, you got me. I was baited by your trolls.

I'll leave it at this:

We're still laughing at you.

(as you apparently believe I am agreeing with you by this post according to a post of yours elsewhere, let me state for the record: You're an idiot. You are a hypocrite, and you are, as usual, totally missing the point.)

Clear now?

iPhone a Trojan Horse For Government Surveillance?
http://www.prisonplanet....7iphonesurveillance.htm
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Much to be said about this article. Back door surveillance goes beyond just these apps.

Do "we" feel better now...you and all the voices in your head?

Are you so sure their his voices your your own voices in your head?

unFbelivable on the one hand. Nothing unexpected on the other. Screw apple. THE most ignorant company out there...

Well, they can get away with this, because their users are blind to these facts. The almighty Apple could never and would never do anything like this, it's just propaganda from anti-Apple M$ fanboys!

Apple is not ignorant, but their users are.

nice and true statement...we wish it weren't so, even the ones on the otherside...we can only offer help, but only if they wish it ;)

Hey thats great news. Means that if Apple start to get funny or brick my hacked iphone I can file a counter claim under data protection. That should stop anyone in their tracks.

Another Big Brother.

unethical.

"Be afraid. Be very afraid."

Although typically an unapologetic dyed-in-the-wool marketing researcher* with a Ph.D. in the discipline, even I find this behavior abominable. Anyone not concerned about this news obviously knows very little about data (especially that which appears seemingly innocuous on the surface), what it can reveal in the right or wrong hands, and how it can be used or abused.

* As I've told my students in marketing research classes, I teach them how to uncover personal information about people that even the persons being researched don't know they know. Important note: Those lectures always come after the lectures on ethics.

wheres potdingus to say that this is all psychobabble and to mention the obligatory Ipod > Zune ... LOL

What?! Dingo come in with an intelligent argument defending Apple? *NEVER* going to happen!

You sure el dingo wouldnt do that?

Attempt to defend Apple? Sure he would... but that's not what I said. I said he'd never do so intelligently.

EDIT: Conveniently, el dingbat is missing from this article. Perhaps he is cowering in his room, tears streaming down his face, wondering what to do now.

Hold the phone! Ed, this headline is just plain irresponsible. What we know if that the apps can load a URL that may or may not include the actual iMEI. This does NOT equate to Apple tracking people. It could be a unique ID to measure use. It could be to measure activation. Just because it's sent - and no one has verified that the iMEI is actually transmitted in this placeholder, by the way - doesn't mean users are tracked.

While Apple MIGHT be tracking users, don't be sensationalistic and present skewed facts.

The fact that they have the capability isnt exactly assuring. Im not sure if my Nokia phone TOS has something similar, but i ****king doubt it.

The headline is almost identical to the one used by Gizmodo, and they even use a comical picture of Steve Jobs as Dr. Evil... it's quite amusing, really.

Anyway, point is this-- they ARE collecting the data. That is what this article is stating. Whether or not it is being used currently, will be used in the future, or whether it's just stored for the sake of storage, it doesn't matter.

Those who care about their privacy need to know what is at stake here. I don't use Apple products, because I simply don't like Apple. Others will make a choice to avoid them because the company is spying on them.

We all have the right to that choice, and this time it is a very, very real threat. Financial data being mined is exactly how identities are stolen.

I mean, if Apple knows I go to weather.com and the Zune.net website, so what. But if they have my name, address, phone number, and credit card, my identity is gone. End of story.

No one has confirmed that they are actually transmitting the iMEI, and at least one source says that it is NOT subbing in your actual iMEI. Even if they were, this number is not akin to ss#, credit card, or even serial number.

We get it, YOU don't like Apple, but put simply and truthfully, we do NOT know that Apple is collecting data.

The point is not if they are or are not collecting data. The point is that once you have agreed to their EULA, that they can if they so choose and you have no recourse.

Reminds me of the lady that was taken to court over sharing music and lost. Why did she loose? She had files in a directory that was available to a file sharing program.

The possibility is there and it is real.

"The information is sent to a website on Apple's servers, according to the users."

Perhaps you could try reading the article. If you're waiting for confirmation or denial from Apple, well, keep waiting.

Lies, lies all lies Apple is perfect!

LMAO

Way to go Apple, taking a page out of Sony's book. They should call the application iSteal.

Do you mean iStealth?

That makes more sense considering that its apple stealing from the user and not the other way around.

Ordinarily, I have absolutely no issue with privacy. I couldn't care less if someone wants to know what websites I go to or things of that nature.

Where I draw the line is when companies want to know what weather patterns I'm tracking. I mean, how am I supposed to take advantage of Global Warming and use it to build my world-destroying empire when I have some hippy at Apple tracking my every move?!

---
OK, seriously, the only concern I have with privacy is when it relates to financial matters. If you want to read my comments on all the web sites I post at, fine. If you want to know what music I've downloaded, fine.

If you want to know what stocks I've invested in or what banks I use and how much I have in my accounts, that's where I draw the line.

The sad part is, people like pitdingo are always on here touting how Apple is superior to Microsoft and Google and everyone else, and yet this is how they pay back that blind devotion.

Lesson learned here folks: ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS read and understand the license agreements for your applications, and always read and understand the privacy risks involved. If you disagree with their policies, move on to something else.

Its ironic that Apple is stealing something from M$ now. :-)

"If you disagree with their policies, move on to something else."

Oh if only it were that simple! All these big corporations pretty much have the same EULA/policies. They all boil down to: if you use our device, we reserve the right to do whatever we want with the information that passes through it.

"Its ironic that Apple is stealing something from M$ now"

I don't understand where Microsoft fits in here and what Apple is stealing from them?

Yeah Microsoft always makes it a point to let you know that an application collects usage information, and gives the option to disable it from submitting feedback. So really your comment doesn't make any sense.

You may care only about finance issues but I care about my complete privacy. It is absolutely nobody else's business what websites I visit, what music I listen to, what books I read, to where I travel, etc., etc., and I consider exposure of any private information to be a serious threat to civil liberty.

This information can be seriously abused (e.g., marketing people building a profile about me to sell me more stuff and/or correlating such information to INFER other attributes about my life (e.g, I'm black/white/hispanic because I read this book and listened to that music), a divorce lawyer discovering I'm having an affair , the administration discovering that I'm an atheist because I (might have) read Dawkin's wonderful book, etc., etc

I definitely recognize the tension between privacy and security (i.e, a reasonable amount of information may be necessary to ensure that someone is not a terrorist, say) but unless information is being analyzed SPECIFICALLY for that purpose (and WITH my knowledge so I am allowed to defend myself, etc), I do not think that ANYONE (person or corporate entity) has any right to collect information about me.

--->OK, seriously, the only concern I have with privacy is when it relates to financial matters. If you want to read my comments on all the web sites I post at, fine. If you want to know what music I've downloaded, fine.

Think about the GUI.... [rolleyes]

Some people sure can be thick. Must be all that iCandy.

It is that simple. It is always as simple as making a choice not to buy (translation: support) a business with practices you disagree with. It's a concept called: CAPITALISM. Most people learn about it in high school as a required history class only to promptly forget about it in college when their hippy teachers preach the false promises of communism.

Anyway, economics rant aside, I have *NEVER* read in a Microsoft or Adobe or any other EULA that they have the right to personal credit card information and "information relevant to the situation."

Yes, it's true, you give up a certain amount of rights to use a product, but if you're selling your soul and financial data to a company, you're beyond retarded.

I would love to see a quoted example of a Microsoft license that gives them the right to personal credit card information and "information relevant to the situation."

So what, please teach me oh great wise soul, is Apple stealing from Microsoft here?

OK, I'm thinking about it... did you have a point or something specific in mind, or were you just being an idiot?

Exactly my point. If you value those things, then Apple is obviously the LAST company you want to support. :)

Yeah, because Microsoft stole it from Apple.

You aren't really that ignorant, are you? Just a show you put on here at BetaNews, right?

Like he said, he had to much iCandy.

Ah, lol, now I get it. Edited comment... must have missed the iCandy bit, or I'm just being really slow tonight.