App developer calls for calm over reports Apple may track jailbroken phones

iPhone users shouldn’t jump to conclusions about the recent controversy surrounding Apple’s decision to patent software that could identify jailbroken phones and their users, one iPhone app developer has warned.

The caution comes as American lobby group Electronic Frontiers Foundation has announced in a statement the patent is “creepy and invasive”, and could allow Apple to identify users without their knowledge, even by taking pictures. 

Marc Edwards, chief executive of iPhone app development studio Bjango, says Apple makes several patents it rarely follows through on, and this could just be another example of the tech giant examining technology it believes could potentially be useful.

“Look, I don’t think they like jailbreakers. But I suspect this could be a part of a situation where they have plans in place to make sure iPhones are secure and they don’t accept information from other sources.”

“I could be wrong, but Apple has many different paths they can take with this sort of thing. They could just be looking for vulnerabilities or that type of thing… perhaps everyone needs to calm down.”

The controversy began when social media blog Mashable reported Apple had been granted a patent for a measure that would identify stolen devices. The patent would allow users to send sensitive data from the phone to a data centre, leaving no trace of the information on the stolen gadget itself.

But it was also pointed out the patent allows Apple to identify iPhones that have been jailbroken, or have had their SIM cards removed, along with ways to measure increases in memory use which could “indicate that a hacking program is being run and that an unauthorised user may be using the electronic device.

The issue is that Apple would have the ability to disrupt jailbroken iPhones, using the excuse of protecting these customers from thieves, as it would be unable to identify the difference between a stolen or jailbroken iPhone.

Edwards says Apple patents plenty of ideas, many of which it never actually uses, and this could just be another example of the company covering all its bases.

But Electronic Frontiers Foundation said the patent, which could potentially allow Apple to take a picture of a user’s face without the user knowing, record voice or even record some internet activity, poses a threat to innocent users.

“Apple does not explain what it will do with all of this collected information on its users, how long it will maintain this information, how it will use this information, or if it will share this information with other third parties.”

Jailbreaking is a legal, but unofficial method of cracking an iPhone’s software. Users are able to unlock features unapproved by Apple, like custom SMS tones, and install apps unapproved by the company.

This enables users to access features unavailable to other users. For example, iPhone 4 jailbroken phones can access the FaceTime video conference feature over 3G, while normal users are restricted to just using that feature on a WiFi connection.

Apple frowns on jailbreaking, refusing to service jailbroken phones at its Apple stores. It prefers users to have the same experience on all devices, and jailbreaking phones can sometimes lead to hardware failures.

EFF says the patent is “creepy and invasive”, and that it will “hurt customers and companies alike”.

“The kind of spying enabled here is especially creepy — it’s not just spyware, it’s “traitorware,” since it is designed to allow Apple to retaliate against you if you do something Apple doesn’t like.”

But Edwards says he believes the issue is being blown out of proportion. Instead, he says Apple should work on introducing features into the iPhone software that are currently only available through jailbreaking.

“There are some things that are pretty easy and you would hope to see. Currently you can only get custom SMS tones through jailbreaking, so hopefully you’ll see that type of feature soon.”

A US court ruled recently that users have a legal right to jailbreak their iPhones, despite objections from Apple.