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After Representatives Joe Barton (R-Texas) and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) sent a letter to Steve Jobs asking Apple to explain iAd's location-based tracking, Apple's general counsel, Bruce Sewell, responded with a hand delivered letter. The original letter was sparked by Apple's location-tracking wording in the recent iTunes update.
According to the letter, Apple only included the wording in the recent iTunes update to inform customers about location-based information that Apple tracks as a result of the iAd network. Customers may turn off location tracking by an application basis in iOS 4 settings.
In addition, customers may opt-out of any iAd tracking by going to oo.apple.com on your iOS 4 device. Sewell noted that Apple does respect its customer's wishes and won't track usage if they turn off geolocation in the settings or manually opt-out of location tracking.
By using applications with iAds and not opting-out or turning off geolocation, Apple may "collect, use and share precise location data, including real-time geographic location." This data, however, will only be kept for 6 months before being deleted.
Apple noted that all of the data collected and sent to third-parties is completely anonymous. "Apple does not share any interest-based or location-based information about individual customers, including the zip code calculated by the iAd server, with advertisers. Apple retains a record of each ad sent to a particular device in a separate iAd database, accessible only by Apple, to ensure that customers do not receive overly repetitive and/or duplicative ads for administrative purposes."
The rather lengthy explanation Apple sent to the two Congressmen was well received with Representative Markey saying, "Apple's responses provided additional information about how it uses location data and the ability of consumers to exercise control over a variety of features on Apple's products, and I appreciate the company's response."
The representatives have placed the full 13-page letter on Markey's website in PDF format.
via DailyTech
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