Apple has publicly denied claims that it supplied the FBI millions of Unique Device Identifiers (UDIDs), according to a report from All Things D. This follows Tuesday’s similar statement of denial from the FBI following a release of over 1 million UDIDs by hacking group Antisec, which said that a database with more than 12 million UDIDs was discovered on a compromised FBI laptop.
Apple spokesperson Natalie Kerris told AllThingsD, “The FBI has not requested this information from Apple, nor have we provided it to the FBI or any organization. Additionally, with iOS6 we introduced a new set of APIs meant to replace the use of the UDID and will soon be banning the use of UDID.”
Antisec claimed that it obtained UDIDs and related personal account information—including user names, device names, telephone numbers, and addresses—from a breached FBI computer.
The group suggested that the UDIDs may have been used by the FBI for device surveillance. Subsequent reports suggested that the database included President Obama’s UDID, though their veracity remains unclear at this time.
