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Wired: 'iPhone takes screenshots of everything you do'

by Robert Palmer Sep 11th 2008 at 6:00PM

On your iPhone or your iPod touch, when you press the Home button, there's a nice little animation that takes you back to the home screen.

To create that animation, your iPhone takes a screenshot of whatever it is you're doing, and uses it for the transition. Sounds innocent, right?

Not so much, says data forensics expert Jonathan Zdziarski (thank you, clipboard). The screenshot is presumably erased from the iPhone after the application closes, but is any digital file really gone after you delete it? Survey says no.

Forensics experts have mined for these screenshots, successfully recovering evidence against criminals accused of rape, murder, and drug deals. They can also recover data from the iPhone's keyboard and web caches, too.

In his presentation, Zdziarski also demonstrated how to bypass an iPhone's passcode in order to own the device and access personal data. Time-consuming? Sure (it took JZ about an hour and involved a custom firmware build). Impossible? No.

As with all things digital (and networked), your privacy is largely illusory. Time to go Don Draper on this one and just use Field Notes books, my stack of business cards, and the rotary dial.

[Via Wired.]

Thanks, Kenny!



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On your iPhone or your iPod touch, when you press the Home button, there's a nice little animation that takes you back to the home...
 

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26 Comments

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deadlyhifi

mmm.
if you press the home button and sleep button together you'll take a screenshot that appears right in your photo gallery.

Handy if you've been viewing a bus times webpage.

September 12 2008 at 8:55 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Lee (UK)

This just doesn't bother me at all. At the end of the day if you really spend the time to build a custom firmware and steal my iPhone then you're gonna just put a gun to my head and tell me to give you my pin number !

As for this being used to catch drug dealers, rapists etc etc then go for it bang up as much of these low life scum as you can get..

This is such "non news' it's crap, it's only made these sites as it has the "iPhone" keyword in it.

Pfffft and it's a Friday already.. Where's my iPhone 2.10 software

September 12 2008 at 6:48 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
rankedsupreme

This screenshot buisness explains quite allot, although ive encountered a strange phenomenon on my phone, I have found two iPhone screenshots in the pictures files. Has anyone else encountered this?

September 12 2008 at 4:54 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to rankedsupreme's comment
Lee (UK)

You've most probably taken a screenshot yourself. Push the home and power button together for a brief moment and release. The screen flashes white an stores that screenshot in your picture album. It's a feature.

September 12 2008 at 6:49 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jeff

It makes no sense to save actual files in this case, and contents in the memory get lost easily. Not concerned about it at all. And just like #7 said - I'm not doing anything bad with it LOL...

September 12 2008 at 3:15 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Unregistered

"Zdziarski also demonstrated how to bypass an iPhone's passcode in order to own the device and access personal data"

with the use of a "a custom firmware build" (read: built with deliberate exploits)

- which means it cannot be done yet using the current firmware which most people are using.

September 12 2008 at 12:20 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Todd

Mr. Zdziarski needs to release that firmware build as Public Domain immediately!

http://sourceforge.net/account/registration/

September 11 2008 at 9:57 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
casey

"Forensics experts have mined for these screenshots, successfully recovering evidence against criminals accused of rape, murder, and drug deals."

I'm guessing that's just a flat out lie.

September 11 2008 at 9:26 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to casey's comment
Mathias

You don't think it's common for rapists and murderers to take photos of their victims (with another camera, since it wasn't actually ON the iPhone), uploading them to a private server, and then watch them trough the web browser on an iPhone (again, since it wasn't actually ON it, just viewed from it)? Nah, I don't either. Don't think they brag about it through sms either.

September 12 2008 at 12:15 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
umijin

What I don't like about it is that the device has something that is treated like a photo on it.

So now when I plug in my iPod Touch, my Canon software (photo window) thinks it's a camera (or camera SD card) and boots up. Half the time it (Photo Window) crashes, the other half of the time I get an error message, and the app quits on it's own.

A quick check with Image Capture shows an image that may be downloaded, but my iPod touch is not a camera, dammit.

Way to go, Apple.

September 11 2008 at 9:26 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mike Schramm

Mad Men is the best show on TV, by the way. R. Palmer gets a thumbs up from me.

September 11 2008 at 9:05 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ernie Oporto

As we say in the datacenter, if you have physical access to the device, the job is mostly done.

September 11 2008 at 8:04 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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