Access member only content, take part in discussions with comments on blogs, news and reviews and receive all the latest security industry news directly to your inbox. Join now for free.
A confirmation email has been sent to your email address - SUPPLIED EMAIL HERE. Please click on the link in the email to verify your email address. You need to verify your email before you can start posting.
If you do not receive your confirmation email within the next few minutes, it may be because the email has been captured by a junk mail filter. Please ensure you add the domain @scmagazine.com.au to your white-listed senders.
Steve Jobs has denied that Apple was tracking the location of iPhone users.
Researchers last week found that iPhones running iOS 4 were storing coordinates of locations visited by their users. It was believed that these locations were triangulated from mobile phone towers.
The researchers found that a file within iOS contained longitude and latitude co-ordinates alongside a time stamp, which was also copied to the user's computer. Anyone gaining access to the file could compile a detailed record of the user's whereabouts, the researchers claimed.
However, in an emailed reply to a concerned Apple customer, CEO Steve Jobs has dismissed allegations that the company is tracking its own customers.
"Could you please explain the necessity of the passive location-tracking tool embedded in my iPhone?" the customer asked Steve Jobs, according to a report on MacRumours.com. "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 [Motorola's Android handset]. They don't track me."
Jobs reportedly retorted: "Oh yes they do. We don't track anyone. The info circulating around is false."
Scandal widens
It's emerged that Apple's phones aren't the only handsets collecting user location data.
Android devices stored details of the last 50 mobile masts and last 200 Wi-Fi hotspots the phone has interacted with. However, that file isn't as easily accessible as the iPhone's, nor does it collect data for as long a period, with the iPhone reportedly harvesting users' locations for up to a year. As with Apple, it's not clear whether the data is being sent back to Google.
Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 handsets do, however, send a file containing users' location data back to base, according to a report on CNET.
The "miniature data dump" includes a unique device ID, details of Wi-Fi networks, and the phone's latitude and longitude, which is gleaned from the built-in GPS receiver. Microsoft claims it doesn't store location data on the device itself.
This article originally appeared at pcpro.co.uk
To begin commenting right away, you can log in below or register an account if you don't yet have one. Please read our guidelines on commenting. Offending posts will be removed and your access may be suspended. Abusive or obscene language will not be tolerated. The comments below do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of SC Magazine, Haymarket Media or its employees.