Willie Zhu Data Log

iPhone

My iPhone is constantly on, and it’s probably both a) the device I use the most, and b) the device I have on my person the most. It tracks:

  • My sleep—when I sleep (based on when I stop using it)
  • Location—even though I’ve turned as many permissions off as I can, it’s still tracking my location. Good when I need Find My iPhone, but otherwise…
  • My contacts—who I call/text/message, and when
  • App usage—it knows all the time I’ve wasted on Reddit
  • Cell network—every cell tower I connect to
  • Apps—the apps I use definitely track my actions. My most used: Inbox, Spotify, Reddit, Messenger
  • Wifi—my phone is a walking data beacon that spews probe requests, uniquely identifying myself to anyone willing to listen

Computers

My Macbook, Windows desktop, Athena workstations, and so on

  • Operating systems—Windows 10 collects all kinds of data without my permission, and macOS probably does too
  • Intel ME—pretty much all of my computers have Intel processors
  • SSH logs—connecting to remote computers leaves logs behind
  • Athena—MIT probably tracks just about everything I do on Athena

General

  • Browsing history—this goes without saying. I’m pretty unique, according to https://panopticlick.eff.org/
  • Security cameras—MIT has cameras everywhere
  • Card taps—Similarly, there’s all kinds of places I need to tap to get in. It goes without saying that MIT records all of them
  • Purchase history—every time I buy something with a credit card or TechCash