Apple has posted a response on its Chinese web
site, to accusations made by the government in the country related to a
specific feature on iOS 7. The Chinese government called the Frequent
Locations feature a threat to national security, and said that it could
even leak "state secrets". Frequent Locations, true to its title, keeps a
record of the spots that an iOS user travels to the most. That could be
a job, a home, a friend's house or a favorite supermarket. Apple uses a
combination of GPS, Wi-Fi and triangulation to determine the
geographical coordinates of these places.
In a broadcast over
state run China Central Television, the Chinese government said that the
data collected by Apple could be used to grab information about China's
economy and "state secrets". China quoted researches in making that
comment, and said that Apple would be legally responsible if a foreign
entity were to enter Apple's database to steal the data.
Apple's
responded by saying that the Frequent Locations tool is available for
its customers who want to know how long it will take them to run a
specific set of errands. The company adamantly denied tracking users'
locations, stating that it never has used this information to follow the
movement of iOS users. Apple wrote that its devices do not transmit
information that is unique to any user. The tech titan also said that it
does not have access to any user's Frequent Locations data, and noted
that the feature can be turned off by anyone who doesn't want it.
shows Apple with just 6% of the market in China, which includes the
World's largest carrier in China Mobile. In this post NSA world, and
with the suspicious nature of the Chinese government and the population
in the country, features like Frequent Locations can't help but become a
target. Apple also grappled with the Chinese government last year, when
the company failed to follow the country's warranty practices. In that
situation, Apple CEO Tim Cook apologized in a letter,
which eliminated the tension between Apple and China. We will have to
see if Apple's recent posting on its web site does the same for this
issue.
site, to accusations made by the government in the country related to a
specific feature on iOS 7. The Chinese government called the Frequent
Locations feature a threat to national security, and said that it could
even leak "state secrets". Frequent Locations, true to its title, keeps a
record of the spots that an iOS user travels to the most. That could be
a job, a home, a friend's house or a favorite supermarket. Apple uses a
combination of GPS, Wi-Fi and triangulation to determine the
geographical coordinates of these places.
In a broadcast over state run China Central Television, the Chinese government said that the
data collected by Apple could be used to grab information about China's
economy and "state secrets". China quoted researches in making that
comment, and said that Apple would be legally responsible if a foreign
entity were to enter Apple's database to steal the data.
Apple's
responded by saying that the Frequent Locations tool is available for
its customers who want to know how long it will take them to run a
specific set of errands. The company adamantly denied tracking users'
locations, stating that it never has used this information to follow the
movement of iOS users. Apple wrote that its devices do not transmit
information that is unique to any user. The tech titan also said that it
does not have access to any user's Frequent Locations data, and noted
that the feature can be turned off by anyone who doesn't want it.
"Calculating
a phone’s location using just GPS satellite data can take several
minutes. iPhone can reduce this time to just a few seconds by using
pre-stored WLAN hotspot and cell tower location data in combination with
information about which hotspots and cell towers are currently being
received by the iPhone. In order to accomplish this goal, Apple
maintains a secure crowd-sourced database containing known locations of
cell towers and WLAN hotspots that Apple collects from millions of Apple
devices. It’s important to point out that during this collection
process, an Apple device does not transmit any data that is uniquely
associated with the device or the customer."-Apple
Recent data a phone’s location using just GPS satellite data can take several
minutes. iPhone can reduce this time to just a few seconds by using
pre-stored WLAN hotspot and cell tower location data in combination with
information about which hotspots and cell towers are currently being
received by the iPhone. In order to accomplish this goal, Apple
maintains a secure crowd-sourced database containing known locations of
cell towers and WLAN hotspots that Apple collects from millions of Apple
devices. It’s important to point out that during this collection
process, an Apple device does not transmit any data that is uniquely
associated with the device or the customer."-Apple
shows Apple with just 6% of the market in China, which includes the
World's largest carrier in China Mobile. In this post NSA world, and
with the suspicious nature of the Chinese government and the population
in the country, features like Frequent Locations can't help but become a
target. Apple also grappled with the Chinese government last year, when
the company failed to follow the country's warranty practices. In that
situation, Apple CEO Tim Cook apologized in a letter,
which eliminated the tension between Apple and China. We will have to
see if Apple's recent posting on its web site does the same for this
issue.
Excellent information.
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