iPhone has secret software that can be remotely activated to spy on people, says Snowden

NSA whistleblower doesn’t use the phone because of security concerns

Edward Snowden’s leaks upset the balance on data sharing (AFP/Getty)

The iPhone has secret spyware that lets governments watch users without their knowledge, according to Edward Snowden.

The NSA whistleblower doesn’t use a phone because of the secret software, which Snowden’s lawyer says can be remotely activated to watch the user.

"Edward never uses an iPhone, he’s got a simple phone," Anatoly Kucherena told Russian news agency RIA Novosti. "The iPhone has special software that can activate itself without the owner having to press a button and gather information about him, that’s why on security grounds he refused to have this phone."

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But recently published files from the NSA showed that British agency GCHQ used the phones UDIDs — the unique identifier that each iPhone has — to track users. While there doesn’t seem to be any mention of such spying software in any of the revelations so far, a range of documents are thought to be still unpublished.

Snowden opts not to use the phone for professional reasons, but Kucherena said that whether or not to use one was a personal choice, Sputnik News reported.