Apps that track everything you do

Sydney resident May Tong uses her new Apple iPhone 4 outside the main Apple city store in Sydney on July 30, 2010. As well as Sydney the latest iPhone also goes on sale in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. AFP Photo / Greg WOOD

Sydney resident May Tong uses her new Apple iPhone 4 outside the main Apple city store in Sydney on July 30, 2010. As well as Sydney the latest iPhone also goes on sale in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. AFP Photo / Greg WOOD

Published Jul 2, 2012

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While Apple’s iCloud app can assist with busting robbers and thieves, users of the software should also be careful. Police, or anyone with a piece of spying software, can track everything you do on your iPhone without needing physical access to your phone.

The software, Phone Password Breaker, can download all of the data from Apple’s iCloud service – which backs up all of your pictures, SMSes, e-mails, calendar appointments, call logs, website you have visited and contacts. As iPhones sync nearly instantaneously with iCloud, anyone who is listening will have near-instantaneous access to your phone – without the owner noticing a thing.

ElcomSoft chief executive Vladimir Katalov said: “In a sense, Phone Password Breaker becomes an alternative way to get access to a device’s content.

“With a valid Apple ID and a password, investigators can not only retrieve backups to seized devices, but access that information in real-time while the phone is still in the hands of a suspect.”

The majority of iPhone and iPad users use iCloud to back up all of their data, apps and media.

As long as investigators have the correct e-mail address and password, they can download all the information from iCloud.

The only way to protect yourself is to either not back up your phone, or do local “offline” backups on your home computer via iTunes. – Daily Mail.

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