Whilst Apple have thus far, for the most part, refrained from commenting on any of the details leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden in regards of the American National Security Agency (NSA) spying on people, the latest revelations have left the company with little choice but to issue a statement. A German magazine has revealed further information from Snowden that suggests, without ever directly stating, that NSA spyware is contained within all iPhones. Apple have denied working with the NSA in respect of any product.

The recently released documents refer to a project called, for no clear reason, ‘Dropout Jeep’. It outlines an implanted piece of code within the iPhone Operating System (iOS) that allows NSA operatives to not only intercept messages and locate users, but also allows them to activate the camera and microphone on the handsets without the users being aware.

Considering the strict control Apple has in place over what users can and cannot put on their iPhones (all applications need to be downloaded and installed via the iTunes interface), it would seem unlikely that such an implant could be made without Apple being aware of it. However, as no one has stumbled upon this code when they have unlocked their iPhone, commonly referred to as “jailbreaking” the device in order to run applications without using iTunes, it seems most likely that ‘Dropout Jeep’ got as far as a planning stage but was never implemented.

The details of the Dropout Jeep project state that the only way to get the software on to the phones would be manually and at the production stage. No matter what power they have, there is no way they could have done this in the assembly lines inside or outside of America without Apple being aware of it.

With no hacker or “jailbreaker” ever stumbling on the coding, and no reported cases of people being tracked down by the NSA via their iPhone, it seems that Dropout Jeep was a plan ready to go if Apple were to co-operate. Although there has been a lot of panic reporting on this since the story broke, all of those using iPhones for innocent or illegal reasons would seem able to breathe a sigh of relief that this project did not, it seems, go ahead.

hmmm...yeah...ok Apple.

Cant understand really, I heard Apple work for C.I.A.