Apart from the browsing history, your iPhone call log is probably the second most incriminating piece of digital trail that you’d want to keep away from prying eyes. People have gotten into serious trouble (both professionally and personally) because of who they were talking to. It’s no wonder then that most people guard this secret with their heart.
But did you know that Apple has complete, unrestricted access to you iPhone call log? Not only that, it even stores your call record on their servers for as long as four months!
“If you’ve got iCloud enabled on your Apple devices, and most people do, then Apple will record data from all your calls, whether it’s a regular phone call or VoIP-based calls including FaceTime, Skype, WhatsApp, Viber and others. Everything gets synced to the cloud, complete with phone numbers, call dates and times, and call duration,” clarifies BGR.
Apple says it’s a part of the “continuity” feature they’ve been pushing hard over the past couple of iOS and macOS iterations. They want all your data to be accessible to you seamlessly across all devices you use. That means syncing them to the iCloud, which means Apple having a copy of your info!
Note: Apple only knows who you called, when, and for how long you spoke. It doesn’t know what you talked about, because, obviously, Apple doesn’t listen in on your conversations!
The big problem is that while your device is encrypted locally (only you have access to the info in it), your iCloud library is encrypted by Apple, meaning they, too, have access to it. To make matters worse, the cloud is highly succeptible to being hacked, as certain celebrities found out the hard way — (cough … cough.. Jennifer Lawrence…cough!).
So, if someday the government asks for those records, Apple cannot wash its hands off saying, “Hey! We ain’t got no passwords,” like it did with the San Bernardino case.
Apple is working to make the iCloud more secure, hoping to give the encryption back to the user. But that’s not happening anytime soon. For now, all your data in the iCloud, including, and especially your iPhone call log, remains within an arm’s reach of Apple, and probably the meddling fingers of the government!
Apple responded with the following statement
“We offer call history syncing as a convenience to our customers so that they can return calls from any of their devices. Apple is deeply committed to safeguarding our customers’ data. That’s why we give our customers the ability to keep their data private. Device data is encrypted with a user’s passcode, and access to iCloud data including backups requires the user’s Apple ID and password. Apple recommends all customers select strong passwords and use two-factor authentication.”
Well, we don’t know how we feel about the whole issue! Time for us to do some more research, before we succumb to the clutches of panic and paranoia. And anytime we have some more update on this topic, you will be the first to know.
PS: For your safety, and for the safety of your data, we highly recommend you turn on Two-Factor Authentication if you haven’t done so already.