Apple has been in a bit of a firestorm lately after iPhone users have accused it of storing years of location data — apparently, Apple was secretly keeping track of where iPhone users go and where they’ve been, like some Big Brother.
(We at Technoodling weren’t too concerned. We love being tracked. We’re techxibitionists that way…)
But not so fast. Apple has finally issued a response.
In a ten-point press memo, Apple has clarified that the data that was discovered being logged into iPhones and being stored via iTunes was not “tracking data,” but rather a continuously updating list of active Wi-Fi hotspots that iPhone users get close to. And the purpose for this, Apple says, is that it is using an algorithm for constantly refining its location tracking abilities.
Just to clarify: they’re not keeping track of you. They’re helping you know where you are.
Apple says that GPS takes way too long to kick in. So if you’re an impatient iPhone user, this hotspot-tracking feature actually benefits you by triangulating your position much faster using the locations of nearby Wi-Fi and cell tower transmitters. In other words, all those data points that are logged actually function as crowd-sourced data for refining location spotting.
Some points:
- Android does this too. But it doesn’t horde these data points — years worth — in the way that iPhones do. Apple claims that all those years of data being stored just happens to be a “bug,” and that they recognize that they really don’t need more than seven days worth of data points. They’re releasing a bug fix soon. Oddly, it took years and a public scandal for them to discover this “bug.”
- Apple has done preemptive action by announcing that they’re also storing crowd-sourced traffic data. In an unusual move, they have practically given away the fact that they are working on a real-time traffic database for future release. Useful, yes indeed. And possibly controversial as it implies that Apple will be tracking all its users in order to build this traffic data, whether they want it or not (by contrast, Android was quick to point out that their tracking data was opt-in).
- Would Apple be working on a software update to get rid of the cache of “Wi-Fi and cell tower locations” had they not been caught red-handed? Probably not. And iPhone users would still be getting even more years of questionable data into their systems.
You can read Apple’s ten-point Q&A clarification here.
