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Not sure what everybody is so worried about, I'm sure the phone needs to track some kind of historical information to give an accurate position. As long as accurate positioning information is not sent to Apple, is there really a problem?
 
CLAIMS:

Apple and iPhone track User Locations
Easily accessible file to any one who has access to one's iPhone/iPad

EXPLANATIONS:

iPhone tracks User Locations.
Apple does NOT track User Locations.
Accessibility threat is a void as one can do wonders if he has your property.

Steve Jobs is a dick because I hate Apple. Android is open and I love open. I can open it. I can wigets. I can overclock the **** out of it. Apple is Closed. Hypocrites and Evil.
And I'm 12. :rolleyes:
 
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It's not a big deal at all.

As soon as you get any electronic device that uses the internet in some way shape or form, you are leaving a trail. You are leaving a electronic paper trail all the damn time.

Deal with it or ditch your devices.
 
Am I the only one who thinks it's not a big deal? Your carrier tracks your phone all the ff-ing time. Google has the SSL beta now, but until recently they tracked your every move.

And with the patriot act the telecos let the government move in and access data without warrants. Yet everyone seems fine with this. However, the instant your phone has a database of cell phone towers it is something nefarious. Sigh. It really would be nice if the real privacy concerns were addressed and not this low hanging fruit of a cache on your phone.
 
Jobs reportedly responded, turning the tables...

LOL!

Yep, them tables sure were turned because the CEO is in the trenches blessing every line of iOS code that goes into every product. Steve knows best. Rumor dispelled. Next item.

Seriously... the audacity of Apple in this day and age is mind-boggling. Everything they do lately seems to be a PR nightmare just waiting to happen.
And yet they rise. And yet they rise.
 
.What people are looking? The press? The "journalistic" dingbats of today couldn't do an expose on how to break out of a wet paper bag if their life depended on it. The brilliant politicians?! They don't know squat and are only as informed as (in this case, Apple), their source lets them be. Otherwise they know squat! ../

Politicians and reporters? Why would you think they would be the ones to investigate it? No, I was talking about computer folks, hackers, jailbreakers, all the people who love to take Apple's stuff apart. It would be an enourmous coup to be able to prove this info is being transmitted back to Apple. You'd have every news organization reporting your findings.

Yet it does not happen. Because no one can find any evidence that anything Steve said is wrong.
 
I dont know if its intentional, but your Signature link is broken, it has 1 too many h's. It begins hhttps ;)

Neat. Guess, I did a sloppy cut and paste when I switched over from the full URL to the truncated URLs that Apple provides. It's just a lolcat, so you're not missing much.
 
I still don't get the outrage of many people.

I can think of four reasons for outrage:

1. People who are scared by the media and do not think it through enough to see the media have it wrong.

2. People who like to stir up trouble for the sake of trouble.

3. People who hate Apple and use any excuse to blast them, true or not.

4. People who are paid to provide misinformation against Apple.
 
I still don't get why people are so concerned about this? Does anybody really care where other people are going? I guess if you are afraid of your wife finding it and discovering that you are hanging out at truck stops trading meth for certain favors then it could be an issue, but my wife already knows about this. In fact, she even comes along sometimes to take pictures.
 
Apple could do themselves a lot of favours if they came out with an offical statement, explaining what iOS does in regards of user tracking ( i.e, location database ). Some 1 line email response fired off by SJ doesn't do much good.

Once again, Apple fall down in terms of customer relations / communications. If Apple handled this correctly then all the fuss could go away in a couple days.
Apple cannot get into the habit of responding to such claims immediately. Hershey or Pringles should definitely address such accusations of wrongdoing, because there are few internet forums filled with breathless commentary about those companies. However, there are probably more accusations against Apple than any other company in the world. Most of the controversies die after a week or two, so it makes sense to wait for a while. Otherwise Apple would constantly have to refute some claim or another. Then, if they filled to respond to any specific query the haters would accuse them of hiding something.
 
Not sure what everybody is so worried about, I'm sure the phone needs to track some kind of historical information to give an accurate position. As long as accurate positioning information is not sent to Apple, is there really a problem?

yes there is a problem. because it's unencrypted and everyone with access to your phone can read the information. the software tool they published showed my travel of the last 6 month quite accurately.

I don't want someone picking up my phone from my desk at work and find out what trips to what company I did. (it works internationally btw)

also I don't think the IRS or other tax collection agencies need to know when I was where.:D
 
Cheap shot

Am I the only one who sees the threat of moving to Android as a petty attempt to get Steve to reply? The writer of this email obviously didn't do any research, and he obviously doesn't understand that Steve would see right through a threat like that...

That thinly-veiled threat was pathetic. If you're concerned about the lack of privacy on iOS then running off to Android really makes sense. Sigh.
 
yes there is a problem. because it's unencrypted and everyone with access to your phone can read the information. the software tool they published showed my travel of the last 6 month quite accurately.

I don't want someone picking up my phone from my desk at work and find out what trips to what company I did. (it works internationally btw)

also I don't think the IRS or other tax collection agencies need to know when I was where.:D

Fair enough, but hardly the same as Apple acting as big brother (not that you made that claim).
 
Android would never spy! (Google: The New Skynet)

I can't really see any reason for Apple to track people. They are not Google. The author of that email is an idiot. Posts on other sites about the issue from FanDroids have been laughable, as they seem to think Google would never track them. That's kind of the nature of the their business. Google tracks everything you do, and is in the news almost weekly for controversial tracking practices.

Cnet had an interesting article showing how law enforcement has been using this data in the iPhone for over a year, and cites incidents where it's been used in court to place people at the vicinity of crimes and show their movements:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20056344-281.html

I don't think Apple is watching our movements the way that Google does. Google wants to know where you are, where you've been, what sites you surf, what products you look at, what you search for, what color you fence is in the front yard... it helps them serve up ads. If Apple used any data, I think it would be for technical improvements, and when you set up an IOS device it does give you an option to send or not to send data back to Apple for those reasons.

http://cnettv.cnet.com/skynet-here/9742-1_53-50103658.html This was a fun clip picking on Google and comparing them to Skynet.
 
It sound like this is some kind of add-on that was left in. Wonder if it was sanctioned by Apple higher ups or left there by the programmers. Its one file which does not phone home so its all possible unless I am missing something.

As for Steve well he may not be aware of what is going on but from his point of view Apple has no reason to follow you around, unlike Google which does make more sense. Still after the issue with privacy in the EU over Google Mapping of WiFi I would think they would be much more careful on things like this. :rolleyes:
 
Right, and boy is there misinformation being spread right in this thread. Apple is NOT collecting this data, your iPhone is. It goes NOWHERE.

As I said, it isn't even doing that for me as I deleted that file on my Mac. Hey, instead of running around with your hair on fire, just delete that file. Wow, that's easy!

Naah, better to pretend this is one big conspiracy from Apple and spread misinformation. Hey, I know, let me contradict Steve's explicit statements. I sure know who I trust more: anonymous snipers on the Internet over Steve Jobs.

Unfortunately it´s not THAT easy. First, to delete the file you need to apply a jailbreak to your device. If you delete it on your Mac, pretty sure it will be recreated on your next device sync. Second, I´m sure the consolidated.db is not used by Apple themselves, BUT I guess it´s used by their advertising partners. I bet certain Apps will be able to access it to show localized iAds to the user. And to top it all off, Apple hasn´t asked for my permission to collect this data.
 
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