iSpy

Can Apple tap into the fingertaps you make on your iPhone? According to one hacker, Apple inserted a mysterious code that tracks every click and tap you make. When users check the weather, e-mail or anything else on their devices, a personal identification number and a record of their habits gets relayed to Apple headquarters, according to the Hackintosh hacker. (Cookies and web histories have been snooping into browsing behavior for years, but that information is not connected to one individual, while these IMEI numbers are directly linked to a specific user.) Though the claim was never verified, tech gadflys nonetheless fretted that Apple is barreling across the privacy line.

Traitorware

Privacy watchdogs snarled when Apple applied for a patent on technology that could record the unique heartbeat signature of iPhone users. The biological data would be collected along with other very personal information, including sneaky photos of the user and their surroundings, to determine whether the phone was stolen and by whom. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital-rights group, dubbed the technology "traitorware" and charged that the patent goes beyond spyware by enabling immediate retaliation. However, other devices, including Apple laptops, have remote shutdown or location tracking capabilities (such as MobileMe) and have not undergone the same backlash.

Deal With the Devil

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak sold the first Macintosh computer they famously built in a garage for $666.66. Apple lore has it that Wozniak liked triple digits and Jobs tagged on an extra two sixes for marketing purposes. But some commenters have other ideas. They believe the devilish digits prove the duo made a pact with the man downstairs in exchange for earthly success. Capping off their evidence: the Apple logo. Is that a big juicy bite taken out of the forbidden fruit? Conspiracy theorists will always wonder.