Yesterday, computer security journalist Brian Krebs noted asurprising discovery on his iPhone 11 Pro. By deactivating the functionLocation serviceindividually for each app and service on his iPhone, he realized that his terminal, when exiting airplane mode, still indicated searching for a location. This search procedure is revealed by the appearance of the small arrow at the top right of the screen.
Without being able to say that Apple got its hands on this location data, what Brian Krebs showed there nevertheless remained surprising, especially since on iPhone 8, and by carrying out the same manipulation, it was impossible to repeat the same result. Could this then be a bug specific to the iPhone 11 Pro, seeing sensitive user data leak into the wild? No, none of that. Apple explains it.
Apple wants a return to calm, and rightly so
The Californian firm issued a report following Brian Krebs' article, clearly revealing the reason for the appearance of the location arrow on iPhone 11 Pro, even after deactivating the functionLocation servicefor every app and service.
This is in fact linked to the new technology specific to the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro, UWB for Ultra Wideband. This wants to improve the perception of space by the terminal. UWB is currently used only for AirDrop, but is expected to underpin the operation of Apple's object trackers in the future, orAirTag.
© MacRumors
In fact, this technology is regulated by international laws. These require the deactivation of the UWB functionality in certain areas of the globe. So, to respect these rules, the iPhone must from time to time analyze its geolocated position to check if it can still benefit from UWB where its user is. For this, it is the functionalityLocation servicewhich is activated and used on the iPhone, the time of verification.
Apple adds significant precision. It indicates in fact that the management of UWB technology and the recording of the user's location are two processes which at no time are visible to Apple, since they only take place locally, on the machine.
An iOS update coming accordingly
In addition, the Cupertino company assures that a future update of iOS will add a new setting concerning UWB. It will then be possible to manually deactivate or activate the functionality. Deactivating UWB will then have the effect of removing this location verification highlighted by Brian Krebs and which has caused a lot of ink to flow in recent hours.
The journalist, however, criticizes the fact that UWB is only banned in a few parts of the world, including Argentina, Indonesia and Paraguay. Thus, he wonders if the few areas not allowing the use of UWB really require such frequency of verifications of the user's position on iPhone 11 and 11 Pro.
Still, once again, according to Apple, everything remains local. So there is obviously no reason to worry. In addition, it is always possible to deactivate all functionsLocation service, UWB included, by turning off the main switchLocation service, InPrivacy > Location Service.
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By : Keleops AG
Editor-in-chief for iPhon.fr. Pierre is like Indiana Jones, looking for the lost iOS trick. Also a long-time Mac user, Apple devices hold no secrets for him. Contact: pierre[a]iphon.fr.
