“Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan called for a meeting Monday with Apple Inc. and Google executives in the wake of reports that iPhones, iPads and Google Android devices are collecting and storing detailed information about users’ locations,” The St. Louis Business Journal reports.
“Madigan sent a letter to both technology giants in response to press reports that Apple and Google mobile devices store user location information that can be transmitted back to the companies,” The St. Louis Business Journal reports. “Madigan has asked the companies to detail what information the company is storing, for how long and what it is used for.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related articles:
Apple sued for privacy invasion, computer fraud over iOS location data collection, storage – April 25, 2011
Steve Jobs on iOS location tracking: We don’t track anyone, but Droid does – April 25, 2011
Apple iPhone collects location info even when location services are turned off by user – April 25, 2011
Android phones regularly transmit location data to Google ‘at least several times an hour’ – April 22, 2011
House Democrat questions legality of Apple’s iPhone, iPad location tracking – April 21, 2011
Apple’s iOS location tracking file caused by a bit of unfinished code? – April 21, 2011
U.S. Senator Al Franken demands answers from Apple’s Steve Jobs over iPhone tracking – April 21, 2011
Expert: iPhone tracking story is nothing new and Apple is not collecting the data – April 21, 2011
‘untrackerd’ jailbreak utility blocks iOS from storing recorded iPhone location data – April 21, 2011
Apple’s iPhone tracks everywhere you go; stores the info in secret file on the device – April 20, 2011
I love it when politicians get involved in matters of technology. All it does is highlight their lack of understanding how the real world works. Makes you wonder what else they are poking around in in which they are vastly uninformed.
if they knew something about anything they wouldn’t be in politics!
Lisa who?
Some tinpot politician “called for a meeting”. Go powder your nose dear, run along now, the titans of industry are too busy for your grab at free publicity.
“what else they are poking around in in which they are vastly uninformed.”
That would be medical care and oil production. All they know is how to vilify.
That’s right, all politicians are evil, blah, blah, blah. And, of course, the medical and oil industries are private sector capitalist entities that have only the public’s best interests at heart.
Come on, TT, nothing is that cut and dried. If you truly believe that, then you are less worthy of an informed debate than I had thought.
Actually, both politicians and capitalists are evil.
And I wonder how politicians could not not evil if in supposedly “Greatest Democracy of the World” one has to have $1 billion to be able to run for the presidency.
Obviously this system forces absolutely everyone — not just “most” — to accept money from corporations. And these money are never given for free.
So what happens is illusion of democracy at best. The slight shifts, mostly cosmetic, in attitudes between Democrats and Republicans are irrelevant to the essence of politics and economics.
For example, Democrats are supposed to be “peaceful”, but both Clinton and Obama bombed a whole lot of counties, most of which unlawfully.
Military industry needs to write off another thousands of older Tomahawk missiles so they would get huge multi-billion dollar orders for new quantities.
Along the way, Pentagon also uses every other war as testing ground for both old and new weapons — with real lives as test subject.
This tradition goes from nuclear bombing of Japan, use of chemical weapons in Vietnam, cassette-bombs in Yugoslavia, and so on.
“Madigan has asked the companies to detail what information the company is storing, for how long and what it is used for.”
She also asked “what is a computer”, “how do I get me one of those internets”, “will this meeting get me free publicity”
Well you see, miss Madigan, the internet is a series of tubes…
Free advertising for politicians is all I see going on here.
I concur, Paul.
Hello McFly..
It’s a log file, dammit.
Wasn’t AG’s job to pursue the crime, and to protect people. But what is the crime of Apple here, or even a smell of crime? Nothing, Apple has done nothing wrong here. So why this Lisa doing it?
Another Democrat jumps on the bandwagon. This ditz is the daughter of Michael Madigan, who has been Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives for most of the last quarter century. Corrupt Chicagoland. Blago and Obama territory.
Right. There is a clear difference between the parties, see, because the billion$$ that Big Fossil Fuels and Warmongering co’s spend to buy GOP politicians isn’t “corruption,” that’s just GOP “supporting American business.”
nailed it!
@First 2010, Then 2012
Your partisan hate is getting old. Why don’t you go to a political blog where more people couldn’t care less about you simpleton opinions
This board creates the illusion of an audience.
For those who have delusions of adequacy.
I concur
These people do not value their freedom…privacy being one of them. All they do is hate monger. “All politicians are bad”, “Privacy is not a right”, “I own AAPL stock…do not look at the man behind the curtain”.
In this isolated case you have a point – more Democrats than Republicans appear to have prematurely jumped into this non-issue. But you may recall that Joe L. Barton, R-TX was part of the inquiry into this matter last year. The GOP is far from blameless when it comes to self-serving publicity seeking.
You are so blindly partisan, however, that being occasionally correct is merely an accident, much like the old adage regarding a broken clock being right twice a day. It happens, but the clock is still broken. I would pity you if you weren’t so obnoxious.
Why hasn’t Apple PR or Legal gotten ahead of this is a complete mystery. Letting all of these spurious articles and untruths spread is an example of an organization that is not capable of nimble responses that deflect this BS.
Apple design and engineering= good, and the rest of the organization not so much. Why is it so hard to respond in a timely manner?
You want them to shoot from the hip on something like this? Pretty sure lawyers and PR people have to be involved, particularly when you have multiple countries concerned and lawsuits filed. The Antennagate nontroversy had to be handled the same way.
I’m still utterly mystified as to why all this hysteria is reserved almost solely for Apple, and why Google mostly gets a free pass. At least Ms. Madigan made sure to rope Google in on this one.
Apple has refused to say how much information is sent to the company, how long it is kept, how it is used and why the information is stored in an unencrypted file. Even fanboys understand that the best company in the world couldnt have made such an error. C’mon, it’s AAPL! Sunday the WSJ reported that even if you opt out info is still sent to Apple. Apple : it’s not your buddy,it’s not your pal it’s a huge money making machine that does not care about anything but making money. Yes, it loves to swallow fanboys too. Make money buying and selling the stock and options. Enjoy the fantastic devices that they make. But make no mistake, they do not care about you or what you think. Grow up. Never be a fanboy. Quit making excuses for a company that will run over you and think nothing of it. Get out of your mom’s basement. Act like adults.
Is that GM for the bankrupt car and truck manufacturer or are you just a big fan of genetic manipulation?
Now a GM product might run you over, but some genetic manipulation will still not raise your IQ past 100.
All you have to do is look at the data files to see what info is passed on. That is, if you have an Android phone or an iPhone.
Google knows everything, who you are, what you do and who you do it to.
Apple has a vague idea where you are but doesn’t know who you are. But that’s only if the file gets sent to Cupertino. There is no evidence that the file gets sent anywhere.
Don’t you look in need of genetic manipulation.
“Sunday the WSJ reported that even if you opt out info is still sent to Apple.”
Actually the article says “There’s no evidence the information is transferred to Apple.”
You get out of your mom’s basement and take off your tinfoil hat.
Touched a nerve didn’t I fanboy?
Grandstanding.
It’s easier than doing real work to actually fix something.
The ignorance and attacking comments flying around about this is insane. I think the real issue here are the timestamps associated with each logged cellsite. I fail to see the importance of knowing *when* a cellsite or wifi hotspot is seen, unless that information is going to be analyzed in some way, either on the device or back at “headquarters”.
This very website is tracking us… it knows when we left these comments and from what IP address (unless we’re smart enough to use proxy servers).
@First 2010, Then 2012
Can anybody play “disjointed stream of consciousness”, lets see:
corrupt iran-contra Reagan coved up by CIA-connected GHW Bush, later followed by nepotistic GWB starting wars with CIA support and the help of reanimated Reagan/GHWB cronies.
Not so hard, but why can’t we just stick to Mac issues instead of trying to make Obama responsible for the actions of every elected Dem?
Corrupt Chicago thug politics. Obama’s way. Do you dispute? If so, you are a gullible fool, just another pawn.
Unlike your knee-jerk meaninglessness, my inferences at least fall in the same general geographical area.
Like I said. You may be in the right forest, but you miss it for the trees. Big Oil and Coal should pay guys like you for whitewashing the biggest corruption the world has ever seen, which is about 95% GOP corruption.
I take that back. They do pay guys like you to bash Dems all over the Web, every day. The only question is whether you’re “smart” (inhuman) enough to actually be on the take– or just seriously misguided.
Sure, I’ll dispute.
I mean, you can’t even compose a coherent sentence; but give it a shot.
You’ve implicitly stated that Obama practices “corrupt thug politics”. Prove it.
….crickets…
“if you don’t agree with me, you are an idiot!”
REALLY?!!
Checkmout the Ozy post below…..
I think the point is…nobody gives a shiitake what any Illinois politician says about matters of conscience due to its lack of said attribute…
I like my shiitakes sautéd in a little a butter, then added to a nice red wine reduction to put on a grilled fillet mignon…
If you get dried shiitakes, then you have to soak them in warm water for about 30 minutes. Then remove the stem and slice thinly to add to your hot and sour soup for that nice smoky flavor.
It’s tough call: the dried have that more complex flavour, but the fresh have better texture and earthier overtones. Which way to go? Conservatively dried? Or progressively fresh?
Oh F!CK here we go again…
The whole world is coming apart at the seams and melting down into the ocean and revolting, banks ripping us all off etc. and this is what our politicians are doing. Fantastic. We are doomed.
Insanity from the same morons who tweet exactly where they ate every 15 minutes in an unencrypted file that goes out on the internet.
NTFB!
they are overly concerned about Apple putting general location data to your own computer. Yet, they allow trillions in spending and yell the end of the earth will arrive with 38 billion. Yet, they have not one issue with taking a person money to spend on everything they want to buy votes?!!!
If they are so concerned, jump into the pigs pen and start looking for fraud, waste, and corruption that is stealing money out our pockets and causing us to become a third world nation.
Geeeez, thief by the government is a non event and GEO information is a call to arms! What a waste of humanity….
This is George W Bush thug politics and Palin/ Trump idiocy combined with Tea Party racist retardedness.
“Being educated means you’re elitist.”
“If you speak proper English then clearly you aren’t a ‘real’ American.”
“Obama’s a Marxist Kenyan and Sarah Palin is a true intellectual.”
Seems there are way too many self-proclaimed experts here in the peanut gallery who have no idea what an attorney general does, or why. Hence the lame attacks.
Let her do her job.
MIke, your logic is lost on this rabble. They are all owners of AAPL stock or dumber than hell. Our American rights are easily given up for a few dollars profit on AAPL stock. Makes me sick.
You supported a decent post with a bunch of cr@p. Typical fallacious arguments starting with name calling, transitioning to “all this” or “all that,” and concluding with a statement of intent founded in nothing.
Your “American” rights have been under assault for a long time, and took some giant hits during the previous administration which reeked of McCarthyistic fervor – either support the war or you are unpatriotic, with us or against us, etc. Those were real attacks. Your griping makes me sick.
It’s garbage like this that makes the corporate world rightfully disdainful of government. Here we have a model corporation, Apple, being dragged through the coals for NO LEGITIMATE REASON AT ALL because a bunch of paranoids found a log file they mistakenly thought collected specific location data about the user. WRONG.
I strongly suspect this PITA BS from TechTards will increase exponentially as the technology becomes both more complicated and more readily available to the average human. Lawyers win. Everyone else is a LOSER.
The biashhhhhhh from Illinois also wants to release all the gun owners information cards (FOID cards) to the public. Why does she worry about our privacy now. She is a political opportunist hack!
She wants my second amendment rights public, the same rights that should not be infringed.
Ozy
The Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms. It doesn’t say anything about keeping that knowledge secret. I am not in favor of it, but releasing gun ownership information does not infringe on your Second Amendment rights. Please research and try to understand things before you vomit on this forum.
But researching would seriously cut down on MDN’s traffic and my entertainment!
Going through loops to buy a gun legally is infringment. What part of infringement don’t you get.
Unfortunately, the only thing politicians know about technology is “Ctrl-Alt-Del”. They are whole bunch of airheads who can not even tell MB from GB or Mb from Gb.
And *you*, the people, elected them to represent you. It’s similar to the ID-10T error connected to the keyboard.
I think I should get a politician to investigate car companies for recording how far I have gone each day and collecting my total accumulated miles when I get an oil change. Tch tch tch . . . Bad Car Companies!
Apple in fact provided a lot of detail about its location data collection back in 2010, in response to a query from two Congressmen:
Click to access applemarkeybarton7-12-10.pdf