JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It's one of the few things we all carry with us everywhere we go: a cellphone. It seems like every month, mobile phone companies release the latest and greatest technology. But is it going too far? And are our phones really becoming spies?
News4Jax discovered many devices are tracking every move you make, and most people have no idea.
We went to St. Augustine, a hotbed for tourists, to see how much we could find out about them on their phones.
Within 30 seconds we discovered that Debbie Early was from Naperville, Illinois. She flew to Florida from Chicago's Midway Airport.
"Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed. "That's where I'm from!"
How did we know?
If you have an iPhone with a newer operating system, go to "settings," then "privacy," hit "location services," and scroll all the way down to "system services." Go down and you find "frequent locations." There you a go: a complete log of everywhere your phone's been, down to the exact addresses. It shows what time you got there and what time you left.
"Those are all the places that you two have been," I told Barbara and Ed Krumeich, a couple from Vilano Beach. They were shocked.
A class of tech-savvy Flagler College communications students didn't know about the tracking feature either.
"It knew I was home.," said senior Laura Ospina. "That's my house! That's my address. And the times (are displayed), that's insane!"
"They could find out what classes I have and what time my classes are," said senior Ryley Venables. "Because it even says when I come here."
Jacksonville computer expert Chris Hamer said it's nothing new.
"(Cellphones) know where you are at all times," said Hamer.
And it's not just iPhones recording your every move. Just about every phone and cell carrier does. The information is just a little harder to get to.
"People don't read the fine print," Hamer said.
But is it legal? Constitutional attorney Eric Friday said yes.
"The Constitution limits what government can do, it doesn't limit what private companies can do," said Friday. "As long as we enter into an agreement with that private company and agree to turn over our data in exchange for their service, there's no law broken."
So Friday said beware -- what you do and where you go could be held against you in the court of law.
"It's been used in family law cases to show where someone was or was not when they were supposed to be somewhere else," Friday explained. "It's been used in criminal cases to establish where a criminal was at a particular time or if they had an alibi for the crime they were accused of -- so it can be used both against somebody and in their favor."
Computer expert Hamer recommended everyone put a password on their smartphones so the wrong people can't get their hands on your location information. Friday said go a step further and turn off your location services. If you do that, he said you will lose some of the frills that come with the technology, but your information won't be as accessible.
The majority of the folks we showed have now turned the tracking off.
MORE: Step-by-step guide to disable tracking on iPhone
We contacted Apple to try to get the company's comments on the feature and the privacy concerns, but officials did not respond as of Tuesday night.