Jailbreaker discovers Windows Phone 7 does transmit user location data without permission

Home > CellPhones > Jailbreaker discovers Windows Phone 7 does transmit user location data without permission Tyler Lee 09/26/2011 08:09 PDT

A while back there was an issue with Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 platform. Much like other mobile platforms such as Android and iOS, it appeared at that time that WP7 was collecting user location data, the same data that landed Apple in hot soup. However Microsoft claimed that WP7 does not collect user location data unless the user explicitly gives their consent. A WP7 jailbreaker by the name of Rafael Rivera who developed the WP7 jailbreaking tool, ChevronWP, is saying otherwise.

Take note that while conducting his tests, he was running on Windows Phone OS 7.0.7004.0, so we can’t be sure if Mango will “fix” this issue or if it has been removed since. In the tests that he conducted, it seemed that information such as OS version, Device Information, Wireless access points in the vicinity and other identifiers were being transmitted to agps.location.live.net and inference.location.live.net.

What was troubling was that all these packets of information are being sent even before he gave his consent to the camera application to collect his location data. It seems that this applies to the different builds of WP7 (Mango not withstanding). We can’t be sure what Microsoft is using this location data for, and the question that is being asked is whether Microsoft stores this data or if they’re kept as a temporary file and then deleted after it has been used. Either way, if this turns out to be true, Microsoft will have a lot of explaining to do.

Read: zdnet  | Add a Comment 

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Microsoft sued after collecting WP7 location data without permission

Microsoft sued after collecting WP7 location data without permission | Ubergizmo window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({ appId : '139683546053659', status : true, // check login status cookie : true, // enable cookies to allow the server to access the session xfbml : true // parse XFBML }); }; (function() { var e = document.createElement('script'); e.src = document.location.protocol + '//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js'; e.async = true; document.getElementById('fb-root').appendChild(e); }()); Network:Ubergizmo English, French, SpanishUberphones Subscribe to RSS Ubergizmo ReviewsMobileGamingAndroidAppleComputersGadgetsConceptsPhoto/Video |  Jobs Contact About Home > CellPhones > Microsoft sued after collecting WP7 location data without permission Microsoft sued after collecting WP7 location data without permission Edwin Kee 09/01/2011 20:46 PDT

Apple was on the receiving end of some heavy handed flak for their location-based tracking services, and Microsoft might be walking in their shoes right now after a recent class action lawsuit that was filed in a Seattle district court claims that Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 operating system also collects users’ location data, and to make matters more intringuiing – this happens despite users being given the chance to opt out.

Why would Microsoft bother to offer users a “choice” which is then ignored? That is certainly a strange move for the software giant to make, and where does the offending code lie? Well, it currently resides in Windows Phone 7's camera application, and this was discovered by Samy Kamkar who determined that location and identifier data were being transmitted regardless of your earlier choice – heck, even beginning before you had a chance to make your decision on-screen.

According to the lawsuit, Microsoft’s actions might be part of a plan to develop a location-aware marketing system which would result in ad generation depending on where you are at the moment. Since Apple was successfully sued for this infringement, it does not seem as though Microsoft’s chances will be any brighter.

Read: techcrunch  | Add a Comment 

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