Apple issues statement saying it didn't give UDIDs to FBI

After a hacking group claimed it had obtained millions of unique identifiers for Apple devices from an FBI laptop, Apple itself has issued a statement saying it did not provide any UDIDs to the FBI.

"The FBI has not requested this information from Apple, nor have we provided it to the FBI or any organization," spokesperson Natalie Kerris said to All Things D. "Additionally, with iOS 6 we introduced a new set of APIs meant to replace the use of UDID and will soon be banning the use of UDID."

The statement came after the hacking group AntiSec posted the unique device identifiers of 1 million iPhones and iPads this week. AntiSec claimed the unique 40-character UDIDs were stolen from an FBI laptop, and that it had a total of nearly 12.4 million UDIDs

But the FBI issued its own statement refuting those claims, stating AntiSec's allegations were false. The bureau also distanced itself from the gathering of private information such as UDIDs, saying there is no evidence tying the agency to the purported UDID leak.

"The FBI is aware of published reports alleging that an FBI laptop was compromised and private data regarding Apple UDIDs was exposed," the statement read. "At this time there is no evidence indicating that an FBI laptop was compromised or that the FBI either sought or obtained this data."

38 Comments

mstone 11503 comments · 18 Years

About 12 years ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

The statement came after the hacking group AntiSec posted the unique device identifiers of 1 million million iPhones and iPads

That's a lot of iPhones!

rob bonner 237 comments · 12 Years

Queue Congressional letter / outrage / hearing in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.....

absolutedesignz 1930 comments · 13 Years

Interesting...I didn't see any site - even the most die-hard Android site - suggest that they did... But good to know they didn't, on the record.

eliangonzal 490 comments · 14 Years

Unlike the reactionaries who started screaming about lost liberties, evil government and the like? Or the reactionaries who started applauding? It would be interesting to see if these hackers are lying about how exactly how they obtained this info.

nagromme 2831 comments · 22 Years

Some app developer named Francois Bernard Ives (initials FBI) got his laptop hacked, containing some old records related to legitimate push notifications for his service. The media piled on, for the journalistic purpose of advertising car insurance and antidepressants. Hilarity ensued.

This is my expectation of the real story.