You know the drill by now. Often readers will email the man himself, asking for clarification on various issues that may be surrounding Apple or their respective products. Apple's CEO has reportedly responded to the tracking issue, in his usual fashion.
A MacRumors reader had emailed Jobs asking for clarification on the issue while throwing a slight hint about making the switch to Android if Apple didn't respond to the iOS 4 tracking controversy soon. Not only did Jobs reportedly respond, but also turned the question right around saying that not only did Apple not track users, but that Android does, and referred to the info about iOS being bantered about in the media as being "false".
Here's the reported exchange:
Q: Steve,
Could you please explain the necessity of the passive location-tracking tool embedded in my iPhone? It's kind of unnerving knowing that my exact location is being recorded at all times. Maybe you could shed some light on this for me before I switch to a Droid. They don't track me.
A: Oh yes they do. We don't track anyone. The info circulating around is false.
Sent from my iPhone
As usual, there is little detail or info to backup the claims, and it seems to be a rather vague response.
While Android has been show to gather location information as well, however the database is limited to a much smaller list of entries and can be regularly wiped by the system. The reported email from Jobs seems to claim that Google's location information is used in tracking users, and Apple does not.
Apple did respond to some questions about location tracking and privacy last July, making a note that users do have the ability to turn off location services entirely and that all location features do require explicit authorization from the user. Though, The Wall Street Journal did discover that this newly-found database does get constructed even when location services are off entirely.
Should anything continue to develop on this front, we will certainly keep you posted!
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sourguy3665
April 26, 2011 at 4:59pm
First of all, it's Cellular triangulation so it just works to about 100 feet+
Second, there is zero proof Apple is collecting the data
Even so, what are they going to do. I suppose if someone managed to hack there servers the hacker could stalk you but believe me that's unlikely they could hack Apple (PSN was lucky). If your saying Apple will stalk, let me ask you this is it in your interest at all? All they'd end up with is a law suit.
Redhead95
April 25, 2011 at 9:50pm
One, it's only cell tower triangulation, not GPS, so it's not that accurate.
Two, can someone explain the huge deal. Yes, companies are tracking us. whoop-de-do. So they can find your house/work. One, they would have to do a lot of work to do so, two, they have to steal your iPhone first, and three, they could just follow you home to figure out where you live.
Really, I'd be more worried if Google stored my info in an unencrypted file.
Oh well, the fix is simple. Encrypt the file, and that should satisfy people.
Besides, someone will have a script/app to wipe out the files within a couple of days.(for the record, I only have a 4th gen iTouch, but my dad has a 3GS, and I got most of my points from him)
