AppleAppleApple did not respond to a request for comment. Google could not immediately be reached for comment.Apples iOS operating system does not appear to make geolocation logs readily available to applications, but storing records of an owners physical meanderings raises novel security and privacy concerns. Not only is the log stored on the device itself (a lock code can easily be bypassed by forensics software), but its typically backed up on the computer to which its synchronized.
One concern is the circumstances under which law enforcement can gain access to location histories. Courts have been split on whether warrants are required to peruse files on gadgets after an arrest, with police typically arguing that the Fourth Amendments prohibition on unusual searches doesnt apply. (The Justice Department under the Obama administration, in a series of prosecutions including one in Nebraska involving a crack cocaine dealer, has taken the same position.)
In addition, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has publicly asserted the right to copy all data from anyones electronic devices at the border–even if theres no suspicion of or evidence for illegal activity. The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has blessed the practice.
All of this has led to a spike in law enforcement interest in the topic. Micro Systemation, a Swedish firm that announced last year the U.S. government had placed the largest order in the companys history, offers a course on how to extract “GPS information” from the “Apple iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad devices.” A now-deleted description of the course, retrieved from Googles cache, says students will “learn how to acquire data and retrieve GPS location” from iOS devices. OReilly Media, too, offers a two-day workshop on iPhone forensics for the princely sum of $3,500. (Police get a discount.)
Micro Systemation said in a post on its Web site that this weeks news “will come as a surprise to most iPhone users, as their devices do not give any visual indication that such data is being recorded.” But, the company said with some apparent glee, theyre “no surprise to the developers here at MSAB who have been recovering this data for some considerable time.”
The U.S. Department of Justice has funded tests of which “mobile device acquisition tools” are most effective in forcibly extracting information from iPhones. Test results (PDF) for the iXAM software say it was able to “acquire SIM memory and review reported location related data.” Another evaluation of a competing product called Mobilyze 1.1 (PDF) said “if the cellular forensic tool supports acquisition of GPS data, then the tool shall present the user with the longitude and latitude coordinates for all GPS-related data in a useable format,” although neither report appears to have tested that feature. The U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia, even pays for training for local counter-narcotics agents to learn about iPhone and BlackBerry forensics.
Citizen’s Data Analysis
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The U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Investigative Journalists (BIJ) has funded a comprehensive and in-depth online course titled ‘Citizen’s Data Analysis’: The Real Story of Black Market & Mobile Security.’
This is one of several courses that have been offered at public universities and universities across the Nation. To enroll, applicants must be a resident of the United States. As with all such online courses, applicants must have:A bachelor’s degree or more and/or a master’s degree or higher, and a Bachelor’s in Security &/or Criminology.
Citizen’s Data Analysis is a course designed to be useful to law enforcement as part of their investigation into crime and its impact on people, businesses, and society and for the purposes of law enforcement training and analysis efforts in general.
The course is distributed to law enforcement agencies, and is designed to meet the need of criminal investigators in and out of the United States, through both the criminal investigation and training of criminal attorneys, law enforcement analysts and law enforcement analysts outside of the US, as well as civil and criminal law enforcement.
As always, the course is provided open enrollment, and the student must submit documents and records required (which may include e-mails, telephone numbers and other information), to completion of their U.S. federal security clearance.(BISISPAP is the federal form of identification that can help the government confirm that an applicant meets the requirements of the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Procedures).
Practical Data Analysis
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The U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Investigations Office recently held a press conference in which it claimed to have awarded a grant of more than $9 million to a private company providing real time facial recognition for police and prosecutors. The grant was based on a request from the U.S. government. The grant, which was awarded by a National Security Council-sponsored subcommittee, was based upon a report the U.S. Justice Department filed during the previous year on facial recognition technology. The report said that the NSA had also used facial recognition technology used by other countries and individuals to track down suspects and that the program would continue through the current legislative session. The agency was referring inquiries to the Department of Justice.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Investigations Office recently held a press conference in which it claimed to have awarded a grant of more than $9 million to a private company providing real time facial recognition for police and prosecutors. The grant was based on a request from the U.S. government. The grant, which was awarded by a National Security Council-sponsored subcommittee, was based upon a report the U
A book titled iOS Forensic Analysis ($59.99 list) published by Apress in December 2010 elaborates on how the information is stored. Heres an excerpt:Cell tower data also has geospatial data. This data covers all cell towers that the iDevice comes into contact with. This list can be very extensive and can assist in