Expert: iPhone regularly snaps screenshots of your activities

You know the cool animation on the iPhone that makes your current screen—say, your e-mail or the Web browser—shrink and disappear when you hit the Home button? Turns out that shrinking image is actually a screenshot—and it's recoverable, if you have the know-how.

That's the word from hacker and forensics expert Jonathan Zdziarski (via Wired's Gadget Lab), who mentioned the creepy quirk in a Webcast on how to crack the iPhone's password lock (no, not this way, but using another, far more complex method).

Indeed, Zdziarski claimed during the Webcast that investigators had already used the hidden screenshots (which are stored in a temporary cache) to bust accused rapists, murderers, and drug dealers, according to the Wired story. It's not an easy process, apparently—it's not like the screenshots are sitting right there in your iPhone's photo album—but if you know what you're doing, Zdziarski said, it can be done.

Oh, and if you think plugging the secret screenshot hole will keep all your iPhone activities private, think again. Zdziarski warns in his Webcast that forensics experts have had no trouble digging treasure troves of information from the iPhone's keyboard, Safari, and Google Maps caches, not to mention those deleted-but-not-really e-mail messages and photos.

Now, to be totally fair here, it's not like the iPhone is the only smartphone with potential privacy leaks. Give a BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, or Symbian handset—heck, even your old RAZR—to an ace investigator, they'll show you exactly what you've been up to on your phone, down to the last keystroke.

In any case, the iPhone's "secret screenshot" feature is yet another reminder of why it's so important to wipe your iPhone—or any smartphone with sensitive information, for that matter—before you put it on eBay.

iPhones with firmware 2.0 or later have a built-in secure erase feature; just go to Settings, General, Reset, and tap the "Erase All Content and Settings" button (the process takes about an hour). If you're really paranoid, you can also try this hack by Zdziarski himself.

So, what do you think—creeped out by all the hidden screenshots on your iPhone? Should Apple give us the option of disabling the Home button animation? Or is this a tempest in a teapot?

Related:
IPhone Takes Screenshots of Everything You Do [Wired]