Tracking down criminals can be a tough job, and if there is one thing that the Apple iPhone can do, it is by providing the law with a digital trail of crumbs that will lead the police right to the suspects.

The iPhone is prone to security issues and that is what Police operatives are taking advantage of in order to help track down criminals. A recent report has shown that thanks to all the small issues that Apple failed to figure out with the iPhone, there are plenty of ways that the iPhone has become the perfect tracker for wanted felons.

First off, text messages; apparently the Apple’s QWERTY keyboard typing feature has a major flaw. The problem lies with the automated dictionary that is intended to help people type message faster. While the feature does its job well, it also has an unannounced effect of being able to key-log messages that are being typed in. Keyloggers are the perfect way to get a quick bead on what new activities users are up to.

Of course, all that information is worthless unless the police are able to get their hands on the smart phone in the first place. And this is where geo tagged images become really important. The data on uploaded photos often contain geotagging information that users forget to remove –this one little tidbit of information alone is all that detective need to find their man.

Once they find the criminal, there is more that the Apple iPhone can give aside from just a recent history of text messages -the phone also stores a vast amount of image data of map screenshots. These images are generated each time the map app is turned off. In doing so, the phone automatically makes a quick snap shot of the device’s last known location. This creates a very useful log that can be used for evidence.

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