Whatsapp photos inadvertently saved on iPhone

When you’re collecting digital evidence from an iPhone keep in mind that WhatsApp may save photos to the phone by default- any

photos any group decides to forward to the phone’s owner. So the photos on the camera roll are not necessarily ones that the user saved.

Check under settings for WhatsApp, and under Chats . . .see if the option for ‘Save to Camera Roll’ is checked off.

It’s a good idea to keep this deactivated not only to save storage space but also to avoid any confusion about where suspect photos on a cell phone came from.

Pegasus Attacks! Be on Watch!

The big news today was about Pegasus, the exploit targeting Apple devices. Pegasus exploits a vulnerability in iMessage, and can install itself on a device without a user doing anything to facilitate the installation. The spyware allows an attacker to steal messages, emails, and location data, and record with the camera and microphone.

Don't miss that you need to also separately upgrade your Apple Watch after you have updated your iPhone's operating system. Go to the Apple Watch app on the phone, and select General . . . Software Update.

Apple’s Tracking Transparency Feature

The latest version of Apple’s iOS system for iPhones will prompt users to choose whether or not they want each individual app installed on their mobile devices to track their personal data. This feature will only operate if a user enables it under Settings . . . Privacy . . .Tracking:

If an app receives permission to collect personal data, the device’s ID; the advertising ID; the user’s name; and the user’s email address will be used in conjunction with data from third parties to send you targeted advertising. Apple’s notice for its Transparency Tracking feature warns that when permission to track is given “[t]he app developer may also choose to share the information with data brokers which may result in the linking of publicly available and other information about you or your device.”

Notably the notice acknowledges that this feature does not prevent an app dev from using your personal data to send you targeted ads on the iPhone. The restriction only applies to using the data to target you elsewhere.

After the feature is enabled when you open an app, you’ll get a notice like this;

You set the option to turn off personal data collection for use off your iPhone:

Oddly, on my iPhone some apps such as Amazon and Google Maps do not prompt the user to respond to the tracking transparency feature.