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Apple Discusses iOS Privacy Issues Before Congress

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the it-was-an-accident-we-swear dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Earlier today, Apple's VP of software technology, Guy L. 'Bud' Tribble appeared before a congressional hearing on mobile privacy to address concerns that were first brought to the forefront following the 'location tracking' controversy that emerged a few weeks ago."

4 of 132 comments (clear)

  1. Trouble with Tribble by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 1, Informative

    "Tribble said that Apple doesn’t track user location and has no plans to ever do so in the future."

    "Tribble acknowledged that the location data in question was not encrypted but that it will be in the next major iOS update."

    So the Apple device tracks and stores your location, but Apple the company does not. That's comforting.

    1. Re:Trouble with Tribble by rritterson · · Score: 3, Informative

      Apple PR failed to remove a lot of the misconceptions about the little location file on the device, so let me take a crack. The location information on the iPhone is not YOUR location, but rather a collection of location data points that includes the cell towers in the local vicinity, some of which could be up to 100 miles away. As a result, the phone is not storing your location, but instead just downloading a bit of cache data so it can look up your location faster when you want it to. That responds to the 'storing' part of your post. With respect to tracking, if you know a way for a navigation app to give you directions and locate you, but not track you, I'd like to hear it. In the meantime, if you would like the phone to NOT know where you are, period, just switch off 'location services', which, as of 4.2.3, also deletes the local cache database.

      Meanwhile, all sorts of information about your location is leaked by all the devices you use. One trivial example is your IP address, which, while not a precise locator, gives the other end some idea about where you are (assuming no proxies, etc etc)

      --
      -Ryan
      AUWYHSTOT (Acronyms are Useless When You Have to Spell Them Out Too)
  2. Re:Questioning by samkass · · Score: 5, Informative

    Google also testified today.

    Apple sent an Engineering PhD VP to describe the measures they've taken to make sure the potential privacy violations don't happen again.

    Google sent a Congressional lobbyist to tell people how wonderful it is that Google can use your personal information to make better products.

    --
    E pluribus unum
  3. Re:Just Like Hearings About The Economic Collapse by revscat · · Score: 3, Informative

    Actually, it does. From New Oxford American Dictionary:

    informal used for emphasis or to express strong feeling while not being literally true : I have received literally thousands of letters.