Apple Stores Your iPhone Call Logs in iCloud Even If iCloud Backups Are Turned Off [Report]

Apple is storing your iPhone call logs in iCloud even if your have iCloud backups turned off, according to Elcomsoft, a Russian provider of iPhone hacking tools.

Elcomsoft CEO Vladimir Katalov tells Forbes that while everyone knows that call logs, contacts, and other data are stored in iCloud when backups are enabled, users may be surprised to know that communication records are sent to Apple servers without explicit permission when backups are disabled.

“Syncing call logs happens almost in real time, though sometimes only in a few hours,” he added. “But all you need to have is just iCloud Drive enabled, and there is no way to turn that syncing off, apart from just disabling iCloud Drive completely. In that case many applications will stop working or lose iCloud-related features completely.”


FaceTime calls and calls from other apps that have CallKit integration like WhatsApp and Skype are also uploaded.

Katalov believes this up-to-date call logs could be beneficial to law enforcement and says Apple has properly disclosed to users what is being stored in iCloud and what information could be obtained by them.

Apple's documentation reads, "iCloud only stores content for the services that the subscriber has elected to maintain in the account while the subscriber’s account remains active." Additionally it claims that FaceTime call data is only stored for 30 days; however, Elcomsoft says

The document also claims Apple does not hold data on FaceTime calls for more than 30 days, which Elcomsoft claimed was inaccurate. “Synced data contains full information including call duration and both parties,” Elcomsoft wrote in a release today. “We were able to extract information going back more than four months.”


Read More [via Forbes]