“Apple said its iPhone, iPad and Mac computers collect location information, but do so anonymously in batches and encrypts it before sending the data over a WiFi connection from the devices to Apple’s servers every 12 hours,” Boulton reports. “The normally super secretive company shed light on its data collection practices for location-based services in a July 12 letter, responding to a list of questions from U.S. Reps. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Joe L. Barton (R-Texas).”
Boulton reports, “Apple offers location-based services on the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad WiFi/3G and on older iPhones, iPad WiFi iPod touch and Macs running Snow Leopard, and Windows or Macs running the Safari 5 Web browser, albeit to a more limited extent. However, this only happens when users have toggled their device to turn the services on and only when the user runs an application requiring location information.”
Full article, in which Tweedledumb and Tweedledumber proclaim themselves quite satisfied with Apple’s response, here.
Joe Barton’s still shedding tears over the fact poor pitiful BP has received negative publicity regarding the Deep Horizon blowout.
I think the politicians were just wondering if they were going to get caught if they left the country for Argentina.
If you don’t want data collected, then buy a “throw away” and don’t worry about it!
Atleast Apple admits to this. Microsoft does it without telling you and probably does it every hour.
I have location services turned off most of the time on my iP4, and almost always on my iMac.
Google is the ultimate personal data collector. They are like the Death Star when it comes to data collection, their huge on it.
Microsoft does not collect your data nor does Yahoo as to the extent that Google does.
Elections coming up and politicians are looking for skeletons in the closet to take the spot light off of them selves under the guise of defenders of democracy, a bad time to be in the lime light as it draws congressional vultures. The answer for me is to vote Libertarian or some other 3rd party, which is about the only way the little guy can send a message to the butt wipes on the hill.
“Barton did admonish Apple for writing privacy policies “that run on for pages and pages,” which most people won’t bother to read.”
Like the bills these guys write. Well not exactly. Theirs run on in the thousands of pages. Not like Apple’s 14 pager.
No wonder lawyers, media personnel and politicians top the list of virtually every ‘who do you distrust the most’
Oops. Politicians get a bad rap because they are lawyers as well.
BFD!! THEY can collect any data THEY want from me. I am proud of who I am and what I do.
Data collection can serve us or destroy us. It all depends on how it is used or misused. I want to receive targeted ads for products and services that I want and to reject any and all spam. This can be done through proper data collection and filtering to meet my needs.