Apple Patent Could Kill Jailbroken iPhones

The US government is a-OK with you jailbreaking your iPhone but, not surprisingly, Apple is not. To that end, the company applied for a patent to disable jailbroken devices, the Register reports. Ostensibly, Apple just wants to protect you from an unauthorized user breaking into your phone: The patent application describes systems that would automatically detect “hacking programs” that would indicate “an unauthorized user may be using the electronic device” (emphasis ours).

Of course, since Apple has no way of knowing who actually “hacked” the phone, it will just assume thieves now have access to all your sensitive information … and can then erase said information from the phone and alert AT&T to shut down service. You know, in order to protect you! Obviously! “In other words,” writes Lauren Indvik on Mashable, “the system described in the patent allows Apple to effectively kill jailbroken devices under the guise of protecting customers from theft.”
(More iPhone stories.)