Apple, Google tap phone location data: report

[Zuthus]

 

Both Apple's iPhone, shown here, and Google's Android phones are coming under increasing fire for collecting users' location-based data and transmitting the information back to the companies.

 

By Suzanne Choney and Rosa Golijan

msnbc.com contributors msnbc.com contributors

updated 4/22/2011 8:17:29 PM ET 2011-04-23T00:17:29

 

Apple's iPhones and Google's Android phones send back data about the locations of the users to the technology companies, the Wall Street Journal reported. And at least two members of Congress are pushing for more information about why it's happening.

 

Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., has asked Apple for more information on data collection, saying he wants to make sure the iPhone, one of the most popular consumer devices, doesn't become an "iTrack."

 

Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., sent a two-page, open letter to Apple CEO Steve Jobs filled with questions about the data-gathering practice. Among Franken's questions: "Why were Apple consumers never affirmatively informed of the collection and retention of their location data in this manner? Why did Apple not seek affirmative consent before doing so?"

 

Apple and Google phones regularly transmit location data to the companies as the two tech giants build databases that could help them tap a market for location-based services, the Journal reported, citing data and documents it had analyzed.

 

The paper cited a research by security analyst Samy Kamkar that said the HTC Android phone sent such information several times every hour after collecting the data every few seconds.

 

On Friday, a Google spokesman told the Journal that "all location sharing on Android is opt-in by the user," and that "any location data that is sent back to Google location servers is anonymized and is not tied or traceable to a specific user."

 

However, as the newspaper noted, "this definition of 'opt-in' doesn't mean the system is off by default for people who use the typical Android set-up."

 

Apple has yet to comment on the issue since the first reports earlier this week about the iPhone's data collection, based on other research findings as well.

 

The Android phone, using Google's mobile operating system, sent information about wireless Internet networks in the area; the iPhone transmits data about the user's location and Wi-Fi networks to itself every 12 hours, the Journal said.

 

Location-based data is useful not only for buildiing maps, including traffic data, but also for businesses. The databases could help Google and Apple "tap the $2.9 billion market for location-based services — expected to rise to $8.3 billion in 2014, according to research firm Gartner Inc.," the Journal said.

 

Google was collecting such data wirelessly using its Street View cars last year, when it came under fire from authorities in European countries and the U.S. over privacy concerns for scooping up fragments of people's online activities, including email addresses and passwords.

 

Kamkar told the Journal that the data being transmitted to Google on Android phones did not include such personal information.

 

Google initially said the Street View information was limited to "fragments" of unencrypted data because the cars were always moving and because the cars' wireless equipment automatically changed channels about five times a second. But the company acknowledged in October that the cars actually collected more extensive information, and apologized for doing so.

 

In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission closed an investigation into the Street View issue but the Federal Communications Commission still has one open.

 

Federal prosecutors in New Jersey, the Journal said, "citing people familiar with the matter," are "investigating whether smartphone applications illegally obtained or transmitted information such as location without proper disclosures."

 

In recent days, security researchers Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden disclosed that iPhones, as well as 3G-enabled iPads running iOS 4 — the latest version of Apple's mobile operating system — constantly record and store their users' locations in unencrypted files.

 

The files are basically very long lists of latitude-longitude coordinates and timestamps, and they can be found on the devices themselves as well as within the software backups saved on users' computers.

 

Allan and Warden have contacted Apple's product security team to try to learn more information about the tracking feature. The two developed an open source application, iPhone Tracker, to illustrate their findings.

 

Msnbc.com reporter Rosa Golijan tested the app and found "an eerily accurate replay of my travels around my home." Further, "the location markers get unnervingly close to some of my favorite haunts." (See the detailed report, complete with maps, here.)

 

Last July, Apple’s general counsel Bruce Sewell wrote a 13-page letter at the request of Reps. Joe Barton (R-Texas) and Markey about Apple's data collection practice.

 

In the letter, he explained Apple's location-data-collection techniques and the company's reasons for collecting any such information:

 

"Apple must be able to determine quickly and precisely where a device is located,” Sewell said in the company's letter. "To do this, Apple maintains a secure database containing information regarding known locations of cell towers and Wi-Fi access points."

 

On Thursday, Markey sent a follow-up letter to Apple asking additional questions about the customer data being collected, and requesting a response within 15 days.

 

"Apple needs to safeguard the personal location information of its users to ensure that an iPhone doesn't become an iTrack," Markey said in a statement.

 

"Collecting, storing and disclosing a consumer's location for commercial purposes without their express permission is unacceptable and would violate current law. That's why I am requesting responses to these questions to better understand Apple’s data collection and storage policies to make certain sensitive information can't be left behind for others to follow."

 

Meanwhile, new research from The Nielsen Company finds that mobile phone subscribers who use "apps," or programs that are downloaded to phones, are concerned about privacy issues tied to location-based services such as Foursquare, or Facebook mobile "check ins."

 

"Despite the growing popularity of check-in services in the U.S., there are still many who are reticent to share information about their geographic location," the company said.