Edward Snowden doesn’t use an iPhone for privacy reasons

[steven36]

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has claimed he doesn’t use an iPhone for fear of surveillance technology in the smartphone, reports The Independent.

Snowdon’s attorney, Anatoly Kucherena, explains that Snowden does not use an iPhone, due to alleged secret software that can be activated to monitor the user.

Speaking to Russian news agency RIA Novosti, Kucherena explained, “Edward never uses an iPhone, he’s got a simple phone.”

“The iPhone has special software that can activate itself without the owner having to press a button and gather information about him, that’s why on security grounds he refused to have this phone.”

Kucherena went on to say that although Snowden doesn’t use an iPhone (or presumably any smartphone, judging from the ‘simple phone’ remark) for professional reasons, consumers are free to make up their own minds if they want one.

The Register states that the attorney refused to elaborate on “what this tracking software is, whether security experts are aware of it, or who would have the capability to view the ‘information’ gathered.”

As IT Pro Portal notes, “Snowden’s claims will likely come as a shock to Apple, which has recently been campaigning to improve user privacy.” Indeed, on the company website, Apple strongly claims that remote access to private data is impossible in iOS 8: “Unlike our competitors, Apple cannot bypass your passcode and therefore cannot access this data. So it’s not technically feasible for us to respond to government warrants for the extraction of this data from devices in their possession running iOS 8.”

Source

[mikie]

Would imagine Snowden would be worried about any cell phone he might use & its signal. Some bounty hunter locate and box him up & auction that box off to the highest bidder.

[Cooperb]

Yeah, I imagine for your die-hard tin foil house type of guy a good old nokia (aka. titanium brick) would be perfect. I have a blackphone which I use as my main phone, but no chance in hell am I going to regress in this technologically advanced world to have to push "2" three times to get a "c"...

[CODYQX4]

All phones can probably at least triangulate you. If people want you dead you probably don't want any phone at all.

[knowledge-Spammer]

[dMog]

for the rest of his life this guy will not be able to take a piss without some intelligence agency knowing about it :lol:

[dMog]

All phones can probably at least triangulate you. If people want you dead you probably don't want any phone at all.

you also do not want a bank account a drivers license cable or satellite or anything that will require you to have your real or made up identity on piece of paper...real paper or electronic files or have any one anywhere know where you have decided to live once you finally go off the grid

to the paranoids out there.... read this and take it to heart.... someone really is trying to get you :rolleyes:

[CODYQX4]

All phones can probably at least triangulate you. If people want you dead you probably don't want any phone at all.

you also do not want a bank account a drivers license cable or satellite or anything that will require you to have your real or made up identity on piece of paper...real paper or electronic files or have any one anywhere know where you have decided to live once you finally go off the grid

to the paranoids out there.... read this and take it to heart.... someone really is trying to get you :rolleyes:

I take my privacy seriously, not tin-foil hat cave dweller though, but I laugh at his suggestion that him using a dumbed down old phone helps him. He says the NSA can record a whole nation's phone records, right? Why does he think then that he can go to Russia and use an old phone and be safe? He's absolutely got all of that stuff, and someone would have "got him" by now if they wanted to.

I'll keep using my iPhone knowing damn well any phone now matter how far back from the Dark Ages, is absolutely tappable and trackable.