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Steve Jobs on iOS Location Issue: 'We Don't Track Anyone'

Monday April 25, 2011 6:22 am PDT by Eric Slivka

There has obviously been a lot of discussion about last week's disclosure that iOS devices are maintaining an easily-accessible database tracking the movements of users dating back to the introduction of iOS 4 a year ago. The issue has garnered the attention of U.S. elected officials and has played fairly heavily in the mainstream press.

One MacRumors reader emailed Apple CEO Steve Jobs asking for clarification on the issue while hinting about a switch to Android if adequate explanations are not forthcoming. Jobs reportedly responded, turning the tables by claiming both that Apple does not track users and that Android does while referring to the information about iOS shared in the media as "false".

Q: Steve,

Could you please explain the necessity of the passive location-tracking tool embedded in my iPhone? 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. They don't track me.

A: Oh yes they do. We don't track anyone. The info circulating around is false.

Sent from my iPhone

As is Jobs' usual style, his brief comments provide little detail or information to support his claims, and his vagueness leaves things rather open to interpretation.

Android has been shown to also gather location information, but the database is limited to a much smaller list of entries and is regularly wiped by the system. Jobs' email seems to explicitly claim, however, that Google's location information is used to track users while Apple's is not.

Apple responded to some questions about location tracking and privacy last July, noting that users have the ability to turn off location services entirely and that all location features require explicit authorization from the user. The Wall Street Journal has found, however, that this newly-publicized database is constructed even when location services are turned off entirely.

The Journal tested the collection of data on an iPhone 4 that had been restored to factory settings and was running the latest version of Apple's iOS operating system.

The Journal disabled location services (which are on by default) and immediately recorded the data that had initially been gathered by the phone. The Journal then carried the phone to new locations and observed the data. Over the span of several hours as the phone was moved, it continued to collect location data from new places.

As many observers have noted, the iOS location database does not record exact GPS data, instead seeking to pinpoint the locations of Wi-Fi access points and cell towers that the device comes within range of, although the database does offer a clear general track of a user's movements.

In the meantime, government agencies in a number of countries have launched investigations into the situation, seeking explanations from Apple and details on how users can protect their privacy.

Related Roundups: iPhone 6s, iPad Air 3
Buyer's Guide: iPhone (Neutral), iPad Air (Don't Buy)
[ 436 comments ]


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Fuchal
64 months ago

So Steve is saying there is no database of locations? Thats just an outright lie.


No, he's saying Apple does not track your location. There has been no evidence that any of the location information leaves your phone/computer. Whether that file should exist or not is another debate.
Rating: 26 Votes
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thederby
64 months ago

So Steve is saying there is no database of locations? Thats just an outright lie.


there's a big difference between the device knowing where it is/has been and that information actually being uploaded to "the mothership".
Rating: 25 Votes
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applefanDrew
64 months ago
I don't get the big deal about it. If you want to be anonymous, get off fb, twitter, macrumors, etc. Then cancel all Internet plans you have and your cellular plan. Then no one will ever know where you are unless you tell them.
Rating: 18 Votes
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aristobrat
64 months ago

So Steve is saying there is no database of locations? Thats just an outright lie.

No. Re-read the three sentences he typed. He said that Apple is not tracking anyone. That infers that the database of locations is not being used to track a users location.
Rating: 16 Votes
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Modano
64 months ago
Let's say you write down everywhere you go in a notebook I gave you, which you keep in a desk at your house. Does that mean I'm tracking you? That's essentially what's happening here. It's just a better story to call it "tracking" and "spying."
Also, switching to a mobile OS made by an advertising company for privacy reasons is just absurd.
Rating: 15 Votes
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levitynyc
64 months ago
"We don't track anyone."

Sent from your backyard.
Rating: 12 Votes
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Blipp
64 months ago
Call me naive (or perhaps paranoid) but I've been assuming my location is being tracked since I bought my first smart phone years ago.
Rating: 11 Votes
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0815
64 months ago

Call me naive (or perhaps paranoid) but I've been assuming my location is being tracked since I bought my first smart phone years ago.


I guess the fine point of difference is: It is stored on your phone (and computer where you do the backup), but it is never send to anyone ... so Apple is not tracking you since they never see that information. Saying Apple tracks you would mean that information collected is send to Apple, which is not the case.
Rating: 11 Votes
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LagunaSol
64 months ago

Maybe you could shed some light on this for me before I switch to a Droid. They don't track me.


LOL at Android users naive enough to think their "free" OS, funded by targeted advertising, isn't collecting user data.
Rating: 10 Votes
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NebulaClash
64 months ago

Nothing to see here...just the unabashed evilness of Apple shining through. I'm sure Apple will 'flash the wad' to the right people and make this issue go away...sad :( We are nothing more than chattel to Apple Consumer Electronics, where we are tracked and monitored like open range livestock. This is how they view us, as THEIR herd to do with as they please.

Welcome to the future guys. :mad:


You do realize everything you said is untrue, right?
Rating: 10 Votes

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