The NSA and GCHQ Are Gathering Private User Data Sent From iPhone Apps

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Posted January 27, 2014 at 8:59pm by iClarified

Newly leaked documents reveal that the N.S.A. and Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters are gathering private user data sent from smartphone apps, according to the New York Times.

The documents, provided by Edward J. Snowden, indicate the companies have been trading recipes since 2007 for grabbing location and planning data from Google Maps, and for obtaining address books, buddy lists, phone logs and the geographic data embedded in photos when someone posts via the mobile versions of Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn, Twitter and other services.

The eavesdroppers’ pursuit of mobile networks has been outlined in earlier reports, but the secret documents, shared by The New York Times, The Guardian and ProPublica, offer far more details of their ambitions for smartphones and the apps that run on them. The efforts were part of an initiative called “the mobile surge,” according to a 2011 British document, an analogy to the troop surges in Iraq and Afghanistan. One N.S.A. analyst’s enthusiasm was evident in the breathless title — “Golden Nugget!” — given to one slide for a top-secret 2010 talk describing iPhones and Android phones as rich resources, one document notes.

Given previous leaks, the revelation is hardly a surprise. Unfortunately, the scale and the specifics of the data haul are not yet clear.

Notably, just a few days ago, Apple CEO Tim Cook told customers that "The government doesn't have access to our servers. They would have to cart us out in a box for that, and that just will not happen."

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The NSA and GCHQ Are Gathering Private User Data Sent From iPhone Apps

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justabrake - January 28, 2014 at 3:31pm

I agree canceling my unlimited ATT and selling my iPhone

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gamerscul9870 - January 28, 2014 at 3:58pm

The 5s? I to will switch as soon as mom pays the $300 bill and we head to T-Mobile.

Great! - January 28, 2014 at 6:32am

The Govt doesn't have access to Apple's servers. Tim Cook is telling the truth. They have access to the phones directly - no need to access the servers.

Angelo - January 28, 2014 at 3:47am

How convenient that this article comes out right after Tim Cook's interview. The Snowden documents that he intended to make public were made public. You guys publish any BS just to get people talking and paranoid. Anyways, if apps are where the info is coming from, why is this targeting Apple? It would be easier to do this on Android phones as they don't monitor any apps published online prior to being made public. Apple has to test and approve every app before it's approved. This is getting silly.

gamerscul9870 - January 28, 2014 at 4:06am

They target apple because it is too easy getting to others or maybe apple gets everything and NSA uses this as their plan to make others catch up, maybe.

Angelo - January 28, 2014 at 5:01pm

I'm reading some of these comments and it's scary how much people are so afraid of the government knowing who you speak to, what you do and where you are that they seem like they want to completely avoid technology. I don't have anything to hide so I'm not too concerned of what the Government has on me but what does bother me is that down the road, we could get to the point where we get something a little worse than the show "person of interest". There could be the day where everything we buy from our cars/bikes/appliances/transit passes via smart gadgets to even our accessories are trackable to an account controlled by the Government (think of it as a "Passport") that you must use to move around. The wrong leader in power can really take advantage of the information present. I think criminals & terrorists should lose their freedom to privacy (eg. a rapist/murderer should always be tracked) but I think the average person has a right to have their lives kept private (the term "criminal" is very subjective, I don't think of Snowden as a criminal, but I do think he should've done things differently and he should never have left the country with all that information. In the wrong hands, who knows what kind of dangers that could bring about to innocent people. I also believe protesters can't be labeled as criminals, as we should have a right to fight government decisions. That's my 2 cents that others may not agree with.

AppleGuy299 - January 27, 2014 at 10:01pm

The fking government doesn't even know what they are collecting. This violates the "no searching without a warrant" laws

justabrake - January 27, 2014 at 9:13pm

People are going to drop accounts with these cellular providers soon !

Clueless - January 27, 2014 at 9:09pm

Cook doesn't even know what's cooking in his kitchen

gamerscul9870 - January 27, 2014 at 11:00pm

Government behind their backs waiting to be served.

NoGoodNick - January 28, 2014 at 4:32am

I don't believe that for a second. You can't have that widespread of data retrieval without someone having a clue. Tim Cook was in on it, but felt secure the Government would keep it's promise not to reveal his lies. After all, if you can't believe the threat to imprison people telling the truth to life imprisonment, then what can you depend on in corporate America?

The Devils >> Devil....!! - February 1, 2014 at 9:15pm

This Might Sound Crazy! I Find It Ridiculous Both Are Out In The Open Like This !, i Mean Wouldn't It Make Sense To Think Some-think Somewhere Wants You To Believe Everything They Want You Hear? So They Can Do Exactly What They Want To Do, Think Ab't It No One Would Have a Clue! In Other Words Redirect All The Attention To The NSA GHQ, While The Unknown Happily Goes About There Business Elsewhere Somewhere!