Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Federal Lawmakers Questioning Steve Jobs Regarding Location Data Collection

What about the apple insider that said that ios4 is going to detect if you iphones unlocked or jailbroken and render it useless
 
Credit card companies?

Don't credit card companies collect ""precise," "real-time geographic location" data" every time you make a purchase? :confused:
 
One might comment that the government is collecting a whale of a lot more data from all cell phones than Apple - like your exact location provided to the security spooks by the cell phone companies.
 
Man-Droid said:
Glad to see that this is at least being questioned. I really don't like the whole location data thing. IMHO it is unnecessary.
Click to expand...

I'm going to insert a whole post from John Gruber on this:

Creepy? ★
Meg Marco for Consumerist, on Apple’s updated section on location data in its privacy policy:

Apple updated its privacy policy today, with an important, and dare we say creepy new paragraph about location information.

Here’s the text of Apple’s updated location privacy policy:

To provide location-based services on Apple products, Apple and our partners and licensees may collect, use, and share precise location data, including the real-time geographic location of your Apple computer or device. This location data is collected anonymously in a form that does not personally identify you and is used by Apple and our partners and licensees to provide and improve location-based products and services. For example, we may share geographic location with application providers when you opt in to their location services.

Some location-based services offered by Apple, such as the MobileMe “Find My iPhone” feature, require your personal information for the feature to work.

How is this “creepy”? Location data on iOS is always explicitly opt-in. You, the user, must grant applications explicit permission to access location data — including Apple’s own system apps. This policy spells out what happens when you do grant this permission. Whenever location data is being accessed, you get an indicator in the status bar. And in Settings → General → Location Services you get a listing of every app with location privileges, the ability to turn it off, and an indicator for each app that has accessed your location within the last 24 hours.

/post

You may not personally see location services as necessary, but many people like the apps that connect them to their friends, etc. Hence the clear facility for opt in and opt out for each and every app.

This week CNET posted an article (they just changed the Headline however, to sound less critical of Big Brother's Android) about how 1 in 5 Android apps accesses personal data, and many of these have malware capabilites, such as "And some of the apps were found to have the ability to do things like make calls and send text messages without requiring interaction from the mobile user. For instance, 5 percent of the apps can place calls to any number and 2 percent can allow an app to send unknown SMS messages to premium numbers that incur expensive charges, security firm SMobile Systems concluded in its Android market threat report." http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20008518-245.html

But Apple gets the Flack, as usual.
 
All it takes is one night of Jobs & Schmidt hanging out in bathrobes drinking Brandy waiting to 'see what develops', for the two company's to become butt buddies again and then we're all up crap creek privacy wise. The only thing Apple has in its favor in this area is that it doesn't currently publish satellite images, street views etc., while mapping network data, and keeping tabs on your internet searches, coupled with email snooping, and cell phone profiling .....
 
fleshman03 said:
Apple needs to realize that when we buy a phone, it is not longer their hardware. It is ours.
Click to expand...

Someone should totally tell Sony (PS3, PSP), Microsoft (Xbox 360, Zune), Nintendo (Wii, DS), Amazon (Kindle).....

I think someone here has a fundamental misunderstanding of the consumer electronics biz.
 
MacBram said:
And some of the apps were found to have the ability to do things like make calls and send text messages without requiring interaction from the mobile user. For instance, 5 percent of the apps can place calls to any number and 2 percent can allow an app to send unknown SMS messages to premium numbers that incur expensive charges, security firm SMobile Systems concluded in its Android market threat report. http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20008518-245.html

But Apple gets the Flack, as usual.
Click to expand...

A) There is a big difference between having an ability to do something and actually doing something.

B) Android Apps make you approve a big visible red colored list of permissions that each App is asking before it is installed. If you find questionable apps asking more than necessary permissions you don't install them - find another one. Simple. It's not like they are forcing you to install apps that invade your privacy.

C) However much Android is doing bad to user's privacy according to Apple minions - that is no justification for Apple to do equal or greater evil.
 
ericinboston said:
And the fact that there's no way to compare (and highlight) the current Privacy/Agreement to the new one...that really ticks me off...Apple updates the policy like every 60 days and I have no idea what they changed. Add this, remove that, re-word this, etc. Total BS if you ask me.
Click to expand...

There isn't? So, you can't copy the text into a file, and then run diff on it with a new one when it comes out?
 
Don't like it? Use Pornoid. Not that big of a deal.
Steve

Sent with right hand from my IP 4.
 
Grimace said:
Never saw this one coming :rolleyes:

Still, it is a valid point. It only takes one hacked corporate account [cough*AT&T] and privacy issues become serious.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately its not about the possibility of the information being hacked and used, its about one company, any company or person holding all this personal information. Thats the issue.

Again, i go back to the "Big Brother" TV spot apple made all those years ago. Oh the irony.

I hate Apple for becoming this Omnipotent force they seem to want so badly.
 
Privacy

The government knows far more about us then we want to know and as of 9/11 I hope they have access to whatever keeps this great country of ours safe. This is needed I'm sure if it was being used for improper, the media would have a field day, then the Feds. I don't think Apple or Steve Jobs are that stupid to take that kind of chance.
 
Stuff like this pisses me off. If "reporting" meant "reporting facts," not BS for page hits like it does now, this would never panic anyone because it's stupid as hell. It's yet another case of feeding ourselves lies and screaming for action. :mad:

Here's what Gruber had to say the other day:
Location data on iOS is always explicitly opt-in. You, the user, must grant applications explicit permission to access location data — including Apple’s own system apps. This policy spells out what happens when you do grant this permission. Whenever location data is being accessed, you get an indicator in the status bar. And in Settings → General → Location Services you get a listing of every app with location privileges, the ability to turn it off, and an indicator for each app that has accessed your location within the last 24 hours.
Click to expand...

OMG PANIC! :eek:
 
iPhone 4

By the way are any of you enjoying your new iPhone's, I really think this is an awesome new iPhone and iOS 4 is great!!!
 
Good for them! No way a customer should have to opt out; it should be a check box to OPT IN.

W A I T . . . Joe Barton? Isn't that the same guy who just apologized to Tony Spill 'Em and then made a false apology for doing that?
 
r00fus said:
Do you think BP really wanted Deepwater Horizon catastrophe to happen?
Problem is, even if BP went bankrupt over cleanup it's not going to get us the Gulf back the way it was, ever.
Click to expand...

BP had PROFIT of $14 Billion last year. There is NO way BP would go bankrupt by paying for the losses to the people and the clean-up of the Gulf.
 
deus_ex_machina said:
Is that Quicktime X? D/led it and nothing in the Inspector.
Click to expand...

After 5 minutes it has downloaded 7 MB of 26.9 MB - at a rate / speed of 14 KB/sec. - and it's getting slower... and I am NOT on dial-up.

How many people are downloading this?

It finished quickly - 2 seconds - after stopping and resuming the download.
 
So where are these "Lawmakers" on Google? Which in my (and many people's) opinion is way more cavalier with people's privacy than Apple is.
 
This would be fine if it weren't such a blatant example of selective targeting.

Real lawmakers should address the subject in a way that affects ALL companies collecting data.
 
Apple fanboy here....

...and I don't have a problem with questions on exactly what's being collected, by whom and for what purposes and how long it's held.

I'm not going to get angry until I know more.
 
Has anyone else tried the opt out url link? I have tried it 3 times over the past few days and it doesn't work, it give you an error saying opting out was not successful! So what are we supposed to do then? :rolleyes:

Try it people let me know.

http://oo.apple.com/
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back