My "O" My isn't this getting things rolling. I'm not saying Apple is Ok with what they are and have done. with that please let me read where it has actually affected someone and recked their life. Another thing that has been gone on but never brought to attention and nothing has happened to anyone. Chill out fokes and the Feds will handle it from here. I'm just so happy and excoted that i'm getting another big tax increase and don't have time to think about this kind of shit that doesn't hurt me. It is an annoying thing to think about it but that's about it.

Lets all go out for a couple of so we can really talk about who is screwing us.

I stand corrected Doc. I was just saying and I agree. The only one(s) screwing us are the ones the voters put in office. Who was it that said in Hunt for Red October....Son, I'm a politician. Which means I'm a liar and a thief and I take candy from baby's.... That about covers it I think.

Look, I'm completely aware of the fact that in the grand scheme of things the fact that Apple is keeping tracks on everywhere their customers go is of very little importance to me, personally--or the world in general for that matter.  But isn't it all these little things that corporations are doing to control our buying habits, to get into our heads and take away even the small bit of free will we have, that has put us in this freakin' economic mess anyway?  You stack 'em all up and there is where we end up!

I suppose I could just let it roll off my shoulders, after all, I was pissed at Apple long before I found out they were stalking their customers, which is why first I got rid of iTunes in exchange for Winamp, and then I gave away my iPod and got a Sansa mp3 player for my workouts, which is much more simple to use and cost a fraction of what the iPod cost.  The reason I'm NOT letting it roll off my shoulders is that I think the world has rolled over and gave in so much within my lifetime that nobody even EXPECTS to care about their privacy anymore -- we're given a number shortly after birth (social security) which was never suppose to be used for identification purposes anyway, and now, today, we're all known by that number!  We're scanned and groped at the airport, we're watched everywhere we go, and our government encourages us to report to Big Brother on anything we think might be suspicious--totally clueless as to WHY we might not want people to know certain aspects of our lives, uninterested in our own privacy!

Our privacy is valuable -- ONLY because it's private!  When everything there is to know about us is open and available to anyone who wants it, we're just cheap meat!  I don't want ANY corporation I've given my money to, harvesting my data to sell to someone else -- If they're going to do that, then I want a cut of the pie, too!  It's double dipping!  Yeah, there isn't anything I can do to stop it, but I'll be damned if I just smile, and say "thank you, Sir, may I have another," when I'm being used! 

What's so outlandish about me wanting to be the one to control what I share about myself and with whom I share it?  Just because THIS annoys me about Apple, doesn't mean I don't have the capacity to be annoyed about all the other things in the world that are messed up, like the economy.

While I agree that companies have use for data mining/storage/location tracking, I do submit it should be a users option to subscribe to being a collection agent for the said companies.

Whats next? having the camera take random pic's throughout the day so they can see what products I might be using in my home? Sure that info might be helpful in marketing me ad's of what kind of soup I might like, but Is still an invasion of my privacy unless I consciously and knowingly make the decision to allow such monitoring of my private life.

I also would expect some sort of security for the data. Just like with one's personal data on websites, there has to be some sort of Protection so the data does not easily fall in to the hands of those who would use it for malicious intent. In this case I see a massive failure to offer any more security, than the fact the file was hidden. Ive read nothing about it having even basic encryption.

While no crimes using the data have come to light, but the potential for misuse of this unsecured data is huge. Hopefully no one gets hurt from it and the companies who made the mistake of storing what appears to be easily accessible unsecured tracking data, wont be held liable.

I realize that data collection is here and as long as it makes money it will stay, but I also would expect any data collected be held/stored in the highest of safety standards.

Nothing at all. I'll wager you'll reap millions from those wanting to know when you go to Publix.

What I'd suggest though, is finding out if any data was actually mined and/or sold.

Perhaps, perhaps not.... depends whose data is used, and what the market is for knowing your location at any given moment. I think if someone really wants to know that, you've got bigger problems than "who wants to know where I buy gas."

Surprise... they do. You use one of those cards in the grocery? It records and categorizes what you buy vs, age, address (income, etc.).

There was. It wasn't common knowledge. Now that it is, I guarantee hackers are busy trying to find a way to access it short of stealing your iPhone/iPad/laptop. Sure, there should be a way to guarantee your privacy. Guess what? There isn't, short of dropping off the grid.

Lock your phone. Also, why not wait until someone can actually prove that data was mined and sold? I can't understand why so many people whose thinking I truly respect are willing to buy into "Apple mined the data and sold it." without so much as a shred of non-circulstantial evidence. I agree that not encrypting the file was careless as well as not having an 'autodelete' function after x amount of time. But that's a far cry from them being guilty of privacy invasion and selling your data. 

Well what other use would there be for such tracking data? I mean really with damn near everyone any more trying to collect data to sell I find it funny that people are not up in arms. No I done Know for sure they have sold data, But I can really see no other reason to keep tabs on where people go day in and out for a Year at a time, other than to triangulate one's favorite hangouts and try to either send folk's ad's they deem relevant, Find the most popular coordinates on the maps, and Place businesses there, Place bill boards, Raise the rent for businesses that are already there as their land value goes up. etc etc etc.

I mean really,  I cant think of one non Commercial reason why any one would want this data? other than maybe police trying to catch criminals.

I don't own one of the items listed., but I do think the whole thing is a bad idea..

There are two main possibilities for the data collection. First, it’s obvious that making the data available to developers who are using location based services in their apps is necessary.

If you’ve ever used Google Maps and had the blue dot pop up a couple of blocks away from where you are with a large blue circle around it, that location was obtained using the same data that’s stored in this file. Your exact location is then determined by the GPS radio in your phone. If you’re indoors or have the GPS turned off, this data is used to approximate your location for apps that need it.

The other main reason that it could be being collected is that Apple is gathering information on the distance between, strength and positioning of cellular towers. A recent update to the iPhone Location app has determined that the information is recorded on both CDMA and GSM phones.


Ok sure I realize that they may need a temporary "Volatile" file with your last known coordinates to approximate your current location in the event you loose signal and or have gps disabled. But why they need to keep a detailed extended history of it for a year? Where I was on the second Tuesday of the week 4 mo's ago will hardly help determine my current location..

I'm not saying they didn't have a legit use for the data, data sales is legit and I'm sure their intent was not criminal, tho unless it was contractually agreed upon it could invariably fall in to that category. Tracking/storage of one's daily travels etc without their knowledge could possibly be categorized as cyber stalking, whether the intent was there or not.

Like I said my main 2 issues were the lack of from what I see, an attempt to make the users "fully aware" of the tracking/storage of their travels, and the lack of any real security of the data stored.

I personally use the location services on my Ipod as I dont really care if they know I went to starbucks yesterday at 3:00 pm. But I should have the freedom to turn it off and the data should be "securely" stored short term.

As I mentioned in a prior reply, Apple sent them a letter telling them data was being stored.

1. Apple is notorious for a casual approach/faith-based approach to security (after all, windows gets the vast majority of hacks).

2, Because, not being criminals, they didn't think in that direction and probably were just sloppy. 

You do, HG.

Well IMO anyone who wants to get in to the data storage business... better think like criminal masterminds, the only way to defeat a crook is by thinking like a smarter one. Sitting around figuring " it only happens to the other guys" is foolish at best and does your customers a dis-service.

From what I saw in the viedo in your link it can not be turned off without disabling the items in question " turning them Off" If i pay around $500 for a phone etc I should not have to keep the thing off to keep from being tracked if I don't want to, it should be a feature..

Update

was on the news 4-27-2011

that Apples was going to release an Update to the HIDDEN File in 2 to 3 months

but good news is do to their Stock falling Apple moved it up to within the next week...

and will ONLY keep the info for 7days .so every 7 days it should be self deleting...

this is my thought on it not from the News

Bad news is they only care because their MONEY was being hit.. and not for moral or ethical reasons  ...