“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.