Apple Lays Out Location Collection Policies

Posted by timothy on Tuesday July 20, 2010 @12:03AM from the nothing-to-worry-about-friends dept.

itwbennett writes "In a 13-page reply (PDF) to questions from Congressmen Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Joe Barton of Texas, Apple said iPhones running OS 3.2 or iOS 4 collect GPS data and encrypt it before sending it back to Apple every 12 hours via Wi-Fi. Attached to the GPS data is a random identification number generated by the phone every 24 hours. The information is not associated with a particular customer and Apple uses the data to analyze traffic patterns and density, it said. Apple collects such data from customers who have approved the use of location-based capabilities on the phone and who actually use an application that requires GPS."

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Re:Just large enough to bust bandwidth cap? by morgan_greywolf · 2010-07-20 00:46 · Score: 3, Informative

No. It transfers the data via WiFi. Don't tell me you didn't even read the summary?

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Re:Intelligence test by tokul · 2010-07-20 01:21 · Score: 3, Informative

Um, they already know where I live. That would be the address where my phone bill arrives. It's also the billing address of the credit card I used to sign up with iTunes.

you don't have to live in location where your phone bill arrives. Any sane service provider might try to reduce billing costs and deliver bills electronically. I haven't received bill for my cell in last 6 years. No paper bill for land line in last 2 years.