USA Government Questions Apple Over Stored iPad and iPhone Location Data
Why does it have it? What is it for?
The US government's House Energy and Commerce Committee - lead by Senator Al Franken - has sent a letter to Apple CEO Steve Jobs demanding to know - by May 9th - why iOS devices now hold location information on its users.
The letter asks, "What location data do devices running your operating system track, use, store, or share?" and "Why does the device track, use, store, or share that data?"
According the WSJ, "The committee sent similar letters to Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Nokia Corp. (NOK), Research in Motion Inc. (RIMM) and Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) in addition to Apple and Google. They were signed by Chairman Fred Upton (R., Mich.) and four subcommittee chairmen."
It's also reported that, "In Tampa, Fla., two iPhone users filed a suit seeking class-action status in federal court in Tampa, Fla., asserting that they wouldn't have bought their phones had they known that Apple was tracking their locations."
The letter asks, "What location data do devices running your operating system track, use, store, or share?" and "Why does the device track, use, store, or share that data?"
According the WSJ, "The committee sent similar letters to Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Nokia Corp. (NOK), Research in Motion Inc. (RIMM) and Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) in addition to Apple and Google. They were signed by Chairman Fred Upton (R., Mich.) and four subcommittee chairmen."
It's also reported that, "In Tampa, Fla., two iPhone users filed a suit seeking class-action status in federal court in Tampa, Fla., asserting that they wouldn't have bought their phones had they known that Apple was tracking their locations."
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Comments
DrkStr 27 Apr 2011 12:04
1/3
From what I read elsewhere, it's the locations of the cell towers the phone can see at various times that are logged. Not the exact location the phone is at.
ETtiene Fivaz 29 Apr 2011 06:07
2/3
To respond to DrkStr...
Not entirely true. There are several ways of tracking a phone.
1. A cellphone works on a radio-signal. If you have two receivers (towers) at different places relevant to the cellphone, you can pinpoint - within an area of about 50m - where the phone is by a method called "triangulation". Normally, a third receiver or tower would be used as well just to verify the result, and perhaps narrow it down to about 20m. The accuracy-issue is because an audio signal is slow (low frequency), and dissipates over distance.
2. Internet or data receiver. Absolutely the same as above, but with accuracy down to about 10m, due to the higher frequency - thus less dissipation of the signal.
3. The most accurate, and most worrying of all, is the fact that the iphone's GPS receiver is being used as the tracking device. This basically uses a "reverse cognition" to be able to track your specific phone (which you registered against your name and the phone's serial number when you activated it on the net) via the global navigation satellites.
Simple solution - switch off your location services and data services when you are not using them. This saves on battery life too, and means that any attempt to track you personally has to be a dedicated effort by triangulation of the radio-signal for your phone...
Not entirely true. There are several ways of tracking a phone.
1. A cellphone works on a radio-signal. If you have two receivers (towers) at different places relevant to the cellphone, you can pinpoint - within an area of about 50m - where the phone is by a method called "triangulation". Normally, a third receiver or tower would be used as well just to verify the result, and perhaps narrow it down to about 20m. The accuracy-issue is because an audio signal is slow (low frequency), and dissipates over distance.
2. Internet or data receiver. Absolutely the same as above, but with accuracy down to about 10m, due to the higher frequency - thus less dissipation of the signal.
3. The most accurate, and most worrying of all, is the fact that the iphone's GPS receiver is being used as the tracking device. This basically uses a "reverse cognition" to be able to track your specific phone (which you registered against your name and the phone's serial number when you activated it on the net) via the global navigation satellites.
Simple solution - switch off your location services and data services when you are not using them. This saves on battery life too, and means that any attempt to track you personally has to be a dedicated effort by triangulation of the radio-signal for your phone...
ETtiene Fivaz 29 Apr 2011 06:21
3/3
Interestingly, another heads-up...
The facial recognition software on your phone is also being used by "interested parties" in conjunction with the tracking of your phone... If you take a photo of anyone, the image is obviously stored on your phone. The moment you connect to the internet, the mathematical equivalent of the characteristics of the person's face is being uploaded to the net. The idea is that any wanted person could be tracked by this "coincidence", simply because the photo on your phone flagged an alarm somewhere, which alerts the authorities to such a person's whereabouts. Very efficient and effective way of law-enforcement and anti-terrorism practices, but what are the implications on your privacy? And what if this "amazing technology" is abused - by hackers, for instance? Is technology not simply facilitating extortions, identity thefts, etc. here?
The facial recognition software on your phone is also being used by "interested parties" in conjunction with the tracking of your phone... If you take a photo of anyone, the image is obviously stored on your phone. The moment you connect to the internet, the mathematical equivalent of the characteristics of the person's face is being uploaded to the net. The idea is that any wanted person could be tracked by this "coincidence", simply because the photo on your phone flagged an alarm somewhere, which alerts the authorities to such a person's whereabouts. Very efficient and effective way of law-enforcement and anti-terrorism practices, but what are the implications on your privacy? And what if this "amazing technology" is abused - by hackers, for instance? Is technology not simply facilitating extortions, identity thefts, etc. here?