If you didn't turn on Find My iPhone before your device was lost or stolen, you can't use it to locate your device. However, you can use these steps to help protect your data:. Find My iPhone is the only way that you can track or locate a lost or missing device. If Find My iPhone isn't enabled on your device before it goes missing, there is no other Apple service that can find, track, or otherwise flag your device for you.
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iCloud: Lock and track your device using Lost Mode in Find My iPhone
Risks are inherent in the use of the Internet. Contact the vendor for additional information. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. If your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch is lost or stolen If you lose your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch or think it might be stolen, these steps might help you find it and protect your information. If Find My iPhone is enabled on your missing device You can use Find My iPhone to find your device and take additional actions that can help you recover it and keep your information safe. Open Find My iPhone, and select a device to view its location on a map.
If the device is nearby, you can have it play a sound to help you or someone nearby find it. Turn on Lost Mode. Report your lost or stolen device to local law enforcement. Law enforcement might request the serial number of your device. Find your device serial number. To prevent anyone else from accessing the data on your missing device, you can erase it remotely. When you erase your device, all of your information including credit, debit, or prepaid cards for Apple Pay is deleted from the device, and you won't be able to find it using Find My iPhone.
Standard phones do not record location data. MPs in criticised the search engine giant Google for its "Latitude" system, which allowed people to enable their mobile to give out details of their location to trusted contacts. At the time MPs said that Latitude "could substantially endanger user privacy", but Google pointed out that users had to specifically choose to make their data available. The iPhone system, by contrast, appears to record the data whether or not the user agrees.
How to Secretly Track Someone's Location Using Your iPhone « iOS & iPhone :: Gadget Hacks
Apple declined to comment on why the file is created or whether it can be disabled. Warden and Allan have set up a web page which answers questions about the file , and created a simple downloadable application to let Apple users check for themselves what location data the phone is retaining.
The Guardian has confirmed that 3G-enabled devices including the iPad also retain the data and copy it to the owner's computer. If someone were to steal an iPhone and "jailbreak" it, giving them direct access to the files it contains, they could extract the location database directly. Alternatively, anyone with direct access to a user's computer could run the application and see a visualisation of their movements. Encrypting data on the computer is one way to protect against it, though that still leaves the file on the phone.
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Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at the security company Sophos, said: And it doesn't need to keep an archive on your machine of where you've been. The location file came to light when Warden and Allan were looking for a source of mobile data.
If your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch is lost or stolen
At first we weren't sure how much data was there, but after we dug further and visualised the extracted data, it became clear that there was a scary amount of detail on our movements," Warden said. They have blogged about their discovery at O'Reilly's Radar site , noting that "why this data is stored and how Apple intends to use it — or not — are important questions that need to be explored. The pair of data scientists have collaborated on a number of data visualisations, including a map of radiation levels in Japan for The Guardian.
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They are developing a Data Science Toolkit for dealing with location data. Davies said that the discovery of the file indicated that Apple had failed to take users' privacy seriously.
Turn on Lost Mode or lock a device
Apple can legitimately claim that it has permission to collect the data: It says that "Apple and our partners and licensees may collect, use, and share precise location data, including the real-time geographic location of your Apple computer or device. This location data is collected anonymously in a form that does not personally identify you and is used by Apple and our partners and licensees to provide and improve location-based products and services.
For example, we may share geographic location with application providers when you opt in to their location services. This article contains affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission if a reader clicks through and makes a purchase. All our journalism is independent and is in no way influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative.