Information on pretty much every call is saved, they add

Nov 17, 2016 19:05 GMT  ·  By

Russian security firm Elcomsoft claims that Apple secretly logs information on pretty much every single call that you make with your iPhone without offering any option to disable this.

It turns out that users who have iCloud enabled on their devices get their call history automatically synced to the cloud and there’s no way to stop this unless they disable the cloud synchronization completely.

According to the security firm, the log that Apple automatically collects includes call history, phone numbers, dates, call duration, missed calls, FaceTime calls, and information collected from other applications that can also initiate calls over the Internet, including here WhatsApp, Skype, or Facebook.

Apple stores this information for a total of 4 months, and while everything is encrypted, the company could become an easy target for governments seeking access to user data, with the firm also raising doubts over possible surveillance that could be performed.

No reason to worry, Apple says

Apple, on the other hand, says there’s nothing wrong with its feature, and call history is synced only because users want access to their calls from any device that uses an Apple ID. Furthermore, the company guarantees that all data is encrypted and two-factor authentication adds an extra security layer to block any hacking attempts.

“We offer call history syncing as a convenience to our customers so that they can return calls from any of their devices. 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,” the company said.

The Russian company explains that Apple is aware of the fact that call syncing isn’t quite the most convenient and secure way to make call information on all devices and this is why the company says that it’s better to use Family Sharing instead of the same ID on all devices.

“Some users note that Family Sharing is not an ideal solution since it doesn’t allow sharing iCloud Photo Library. In our opinion, Apple’s recommendation actually makes sense as someone’s Apple ID is personal and should not be used across devices owned by different persons (even within the family),” it says.

Apple hasn’t revealed whether it plans to provide an update that would give users more control over their synced call history.