Apple transmitting data? Don’t panic.

If there’s panic in the streets and talk of tinfoil hats, it can mean only one thing: conspiracy theorists of the world unite (but quietly, so they don’t know we’re uniting)! The latest topic of concern, the iPhone.

According to the folks at Hackintosh, the Stocks and Weather applications transmit your iPhone’s IMEI (a unique identifier associated with each handset) back to Cupertino. What does it all mean?

Reactions, of course, vary from the “who cares?” to the “zOMG, Apple is evil.” Is there really any reason to worry? Likely no. Apple’s terms of service and license agreements allow them to collect some personal data, and it seems to me little different than registering your computer’s serial number. I’m sure there will be those that object strenuously, and if you want to hack the apps to send bogus information, it seems like that’s possible (if not for the faint of heart). Check the link above for instructions. Everybody else, as you were.

Update: According to Heise Online and Docpool seem to have confirmed that the information sent is not the IMEI, but rather just an identifier for the application.

Category: Software

Posted by Dan Moren on Nov 19 2007, 11:43 AM ET

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