Location data is one of the most sensitive pieces of personal information. In today’s world, aggregated location data is as sensitive and as valuable as the user’s passwords. Once this data is transmitted to the OS manufacturer’s cloud service or any of the third-party vendors, the user has the right to know exactly what information is collected; who, when, and how has access to it. In today’s article, we will talk about one of the iOS lesser known features called “Significant locations”.
“Significant Locations” are an important part of the evidence logged on iPhones. Forensic experts doing the acquisition will try accessing Significant Locations. At the same time, many iPhone users are completely unaware of the existence of this feature. What are Significant Locations, where are they stored, and how to extract them, and what value do they serve in investigations?