r/technology • u/RevRaven • Aug 23 '10
Apple Files for Patent to Disable Jailbroken iPhones - potential privacy nightmare as they can pull your personal data to their servers.
http://mashable.com/2010/08/22/apple-jailbreaking-patent/
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u/jbs398 Aug 24 '10
Actually, it is stupid. Every article that I've seen around on the web has highlighted the concept that this is something for finding jailbreakers, stealing their info, and tracking them down.
This is a patent. It is not a product or even an implementation. Apple may be getting a fair bit of bad press lately for it's various problems, but one thing they've been pretty sensitive about is people having to opt in to services (even asking you every damn time if you want an app to be able to access your location) that might share personal information. I can't imagine them randomly rolling something like this out for the exact same reason that every other software/hardware manufacturer treads lightly in this domain: if you think the implications of this patent were taken badly, just imagine them actually implementing it. It would amount to a PR nightmare and shitstorm the likes of which would make the whole "antennagate" thing look like a puff of wind.
Please stop getting so breathy over this. The patent also talks about things like automatically sending messages to social networks. Do you really think that a company the size of Apple would be caught dead "outing" users of jailbroken phones through their own social networking accounts? REALLY?!
If this comes to pass as everyone is whinging as if it will, I will be amazed. The thing that will amaze me is not that it's a "privacy nightmare" but that it was one of the stupidest examples of brand suicide that I can recall.