Could you please explain the necessity of the passive location-tracking tool embedded in my iPhone? It’s kind of unnerving knowing that my exact location is being recorded at all times. Maybe you could shed some light on this for me before I switch to a Droid. They don’t track me.
Jobs: Oh yes they do. We don’t track anyone. The info circulating around is false.
Sent from my iPhone
Let’s do a little simple parsing:
1) “It’s kind of unnerving knowing that my exact location is being recorded at all times.”
Uh. No it’s not. The exact location is not being recorded. And it most certainly is not “at all times.” That has been demonstrated on several sites by people who’ve dug into the data.
2) The Droid.
Yes, they do track. They don’t have as easy access to the data, and they appear to be wiping the history much better than Apple is. But they’re still doing the same fundamental thing in recording approximate location information.
3) “We don’t track anyone.”
Literally, this is true. To the extent that the data appears to not be uploaded by Apple (as far as I have heard; if anyone knows differently, please enlighten me.) to their servers. This info doesn’t appear to be used beyond some internal stuff on the iDevice itself. I’ve heard it is to a) better manage connections to cell towers; b) better manage connections to wifi hotspots. Take your pick on the justifications that are going around right now.
However, this is as much a legalistic answer as anything. The fact is, this information is being recorded on the device. It is not being wiped. There is a history being preserved. No, it’s not being used outside of the device, but it exists. I’m not thrilled with that fact or Jobs’ “terse” answer.
4) From a higher perspective: this information is not nearly as accurate as what is provided by the built-in GPS. And if you have location services turned on and are allowing your apps to track you (for whatever purposed stated), they’re getting much more accurate and real-time positioning on you. Should this other database exist? Fair question. Should it be wiped on a regular basis of your history? Absolutely. I’ll bet anyone $100 that the next update/upgrade will have this issue fixed. I think Gruber’s had a bead on this from the beginning–it’s a bug. Someone screwed up in writing/testing this code and the history wipe didn’t get implemented properly.
Apple’s got a big ol’ target square on its back. They’re the 800 lb gorilla in the tech world now. Anti-trust issues are going to start cropping up regularly (already happening to a certain extent, but the noise will get louder), and this will do nothing to help matters, as much of a non-issue as it currently is. Comes with the territory. Jobs (or Apple PR) is going to have to be a little more forth-coming, as short responses like this to individuals are not going to cut it.
Welcome to the big leagues, guys. Time to strap your cups on….
So, here’s the entire exchange:
Let’s do a little simple parsing:
1) “It’s kind of unnerving knowing that my exact location is being recorded at all times.”
Uh. No it’s not. The exact location is not being recorded. And it most certainly is not “at all times.” That has been demonstrated on several sites by people who’ve dug into the data.
2) The Droid.
Yes, they do track. They don’t have as easy access to the data, and they appear to be wiping the history much better than Apple is. But they’re still doing the same fundamental thing in recording approximate location information.
3) “We don’t track anyone.”
Literally, this is true. To the extent that the data appears to not be uploaded by Apple (as far as I have heard; if anyone knows differently, please enlighten me.) to their servers. This info doesn’t appear to be used beyond some internal stuff on the iDevice itself. I’ve heard it is to a) better manage connections to cell towers; b) better manage connections to wifi hotspots. Take your pick on the justifications that are going around right now.
However, this is as much a legalistic answer as anything. The fact is, this information is being recorded on the device. It is not being wiped. There is a history being preserved. No, it’s not being used outside of the device, but it exists. I’m not thrilled with that fact or Jobs’ “terse” answer.
4) From a higher perspective: this information is not nearly as accurate as what is provided by the built-in GPS. And if you have location services turned on and are allowing your apps to track you (for whatever purposed stated), they’re getting much more accurate and real-time positioning on you. Should this other database exist? Fair question. Should it be wiped on a regular basis of your history? Absolutely. I’ll bet anyone $100 that the next update/upgrade will have this issue fixed. I think Gruber’s had a bead on this from the beginning–it’s a bug. Someone screwed up in writing/testing this code and the history wipe didn’t get implemented properly.
Apple’s got a big ol’ target square on its back. They’re the 800 lb gorilla in the tech world now. Anti-trust issues are going to start cropping up regularly (already happening to a certain extent, but the noise will get louder), and this will do nothing to help matters, as much of a non-issue as it currently is. Comes with the territory. Jobs (or Apple PR) is going to have to be a little more forth-coming, as short responses like this to individuals are not going to cut it.
Welcome to the big leagues, guys. Time to strap your cups on….