Apple Finally Breaks Silence over ‘Location Tracking-gate’

Location tracking has become the latest security fear this month after researchers uncovered that some smartphones had been secretly storing the locations their users have visited. With the iPhone outed as the worst offender, Apple has hit back with a recent statement responding to the claims.



Security researchers Pete Warden and Alasdair Allan revealed earlier this month that more than just music was being synchronised from their phones through iTunes when connected to their computers. They discovered that a file storing all of the locations they had visited with their phones were also synchronised, using unsecure methods.



Though the files were hidden away from users, the researchers believed that thieves or hackers could access the data easily with the right software. Matters were made even worse when it was revealed that some iPhones were collecting this data despite the ‘location services’ setting on the device being disabled.



Following an investigation into the matter, the manufacturer continued to keep tight lipped about why the file was unencrypted and easily accessible by those with a malicious intent. Other mobile phones were also found to keep track of its users, though they explicitly asked users’ consent before doing so. Some operating system developers have also acted quickly to quell the uproar amongst its users with recent software updates to patch this hidden behaviour.



Apple has now broken its silence and released a formal press release, stating that "Apple is not tracking the location of your iPhone. Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so." The manufacturer claims that in order to provide a fast connection to navigation services, the iPhone 4 and other iDevices collected this information to help compile a database of WiFi hotspots and mobile phone towers so that they could quickly locate themselves wherever they were around the world.



Apple does admit that the file should have been encrypted so that thieves or hackers could not maliciously use the information. The company has promised to rectify the problem in a soon to be released update to the software, but users around the world are beginning to lose trust with the manufacturer after a line of scandals have plagued the device ever since it launched in 2007.



Apple has always touted the devices it sells to consumers as secure because of its UNIX underpinnings, but it has left many average users wary of what other information the manufacturer has been collecting without their knowledge.