App Developers Can Raid Your iPhone's Photo Library

Hey, remember when we were talking about security holes yesterday, and I mentioned some app was probably reading your text messages, right now? Turns out I wasn’t nearly cynical enough: there’s a security hole in Apple’s iOS 4.0 and up that lets app developers swipe all your photos without your knowledge.

Whoops!

The hole is tied to another godawful invasion of privacy, this one intentional: the “Announce My Location Constantly” “feature” that essentially allows people to consent to be tracked like animals on the savannah. Seriously, turn this feature off. You don’t need to let all your friends know where you are at all times, and giving that information to a large corporation is just creepy.

Anyhoo, the hole first appeared in iOS 4.0. The good news is that so far, an app hasn’t been found to exploit this hole, although considering all the nude pics on all the iPhones out there, THAT’S going to change in a big fat hurry.

We can’t wait for Apple’s explanation for this one. Nor can we wait for the inevitable porn site staging videos shot on the iPhone claiming to be “HACKED FROM THE PHONES OF BARELY LEGAL TEENS!”

Wait, can we trademark that?

(Image via Yutaka Tsutano on Flickr)

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