on Wednesday denied that the devices were tracking users but noted that
it had “uncovered” bugs that resulted in too much location data being
kept on the phones.
Apple said it stored the data, which first received
wide attention last week, on the devices to enable them to quickly
provide location-based services, such as map directions. It is not a
precise log of users’ whereabouts, the company said, but a database of
nearby Wi-Fi networks and cell towers that can help the phone calculate
routes and nearby destinations.
“Providing mobile users with fast and accurate
location information while preserving their security and privacy has
raised some very complex technical issues which are hard to communicate
in a soundbite,” the company said in an emailed statement. “Users are
confused, partly because the creators of this new technology (including
Apple) have not provided enough education about these issues to date.”
In an explanation that was somewhat complex itself,
the company said that the many thousands of location data points kept
on the phone were “a subset (cache) of the crowd-sourced Wi-Fi hotspot
and cell tower database which is downloaded from Apple into the
iPhone.” In other words, Apple is sending location data about your
surroundings to your phone, rather than your phone sending that data to
Apple.
Apple’s response followed a growing chorus of
questions from U.S. and international officials about the nature of the
location data file, reflecting increasing concern about digital privacy
issues.
The company emphasized that the data were not a
user’s exact, real-time location, but an amalgam of Wi-Fi access points
and cell-tower data, “which can be more than one hundred miles away
from the iPhone.”
The company, however, did not highlight that many
Wi-Fi access points can be much closer, including in specific rooms in
users’ homes and offices. And as cellular networks have become larger
and more sophisticated, companies have built many more towers so that
each one can cover a smaller area more effectively.
Experts have said that Wi-Fi and cell-tower location data may soon be as specific as the highly precise GPS satellite data.
Apple said it would fix two issues with the way the
data was stored, each of which it called a “bug.” An upcoming version
of its mobile software, iOS, would store only about seven days of
location data on the phone, rather than a year’s worth. And the phones
will not store the data after users have turned off “Location
Services,” as is now the case.
That software update would come sometime in the next few weeks, the company said.
———
(c) 2011, Los Angeles Times.
Visit the Los Angeles Times on the Internet at http://www.latimes.com/.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
