Tag: Location Data

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Apple releases iOS 4.3.3 and iOS 4.2.8 to address issues with Location Data.

Following the Apple Q&A on Location Data, iOS 4.3.3 and iOS 4.2.8 are now available for download.

This Update contains changes to the iOS crowd-sourced location database cache including:

  • Reduces the size of the cache
  • No longer backs up the cache to iTunes
  • Deletes the cache entirely when Location Servcies is turned off.

iOS 4.3.3 (8E41) is available for:

  • iPad (iPad1,1)
  • iPad 2 (iPad2,1 | iPad 2,2 | iPad2,3)
  • iPhone 3GS (iPhone2,1)
  • iPhone 4 GSM (iPhone3,1)
  • iPod touch 2nd Generation (iPod2,1)
  • iPod touch 3rd Generation (iPod3,1)
  • iPod touch 4th Generation (iPod4,1)

iOS 4.2.8 (8J2) is available for:

  • iPhone 4 CDMA (iPhone 3,3)

The iOS update can be obtained primarily through iTunes.

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Locations, Locations, Locations!

Apple and Google are sued on separate occasions for the alleged location tracking.

Meanwhile, Tom Tom’s GPS data is being used to target speeders in Netherlands.

At least Windows Phone 7 does not store location data on the phone. They are collecting it on the fly.

Why are these companies tracking me? Before I finish my thought, I should check-in on Foursquare, Gowalla, Facebook Places, Google Latitude, … and geotagging this post.

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Apple Answers Questions Regarding iPhone Location Data.

Apple answers questions regarding iPhone Location Data through its Press Release page. To summarize Apple’s answers:

  • Apple is not tracking anyone.
  • The iPhone is not logging user’s location.
  • It is the database of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers around user’s current location. Some are located far away from user’s actual locations.
  • This database is used to triangulate the iPhone location when Locations Services is running.
  • The current database is not encrypted, but protected in a different way. Next software update will encrypt the file.
  • Geo-tagged Wi-Fi hotspot and cell-tower data are sent to Apple in an anonymous and encrypted form.
    “Apple cannot identify the source of this data.”
  • The Location Data cache is stored longer than expected due to software bug.

Apple also mentions:

Software Update
Sometime in the next few weeks Apple will release a free iOS software update that:

  • reduces the size of the crowd-sourced Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower database cached on the iPhone,
  • ceases backing up this cache, and
  • deletes this cache entirely when Location Services is turned off.

In the next major iOS software release the cache will also be encrypted on the iPhone.

“Next Major iOS Software Release” could mean iOS 5.