Apple stirs privacy row with iOS 4 policy
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 14:17Apple may be about to get roped into the privacy policy debate that has dogged other technology companies like Facebook and Google over the past few months. On Monday Apple quietly changed its privacy policy as part of the iOS 4 update to allow the company to collect and share your Apple device’s location information, as first reported by The Los Angeles Times.
Apple says in its revised privacy policy that most location data is collected anonymously with the exception of services like Find My iPhone, which needs your personal information to work. Apple uses your location data to “provide and improve location-based products and services,” according to the revised privacy policy.
[ Find out what iOS 4 does -- and doesn't do -- for business. | Stay up on tech news and reviews from your smartphone at infoworldmobile.com. | Get the best iPhone apps for pros with InfoWorld's business iPhone apps finder. | See which smartphone is right for you in our mobile "deathmatch" calculator. ]
Some programs such as Google Maps offer services that use your computer’s location information, but Apple’s privacy change was made primarily for iOS devices including iPhones, iPad and iPods. These devices offer a slew of applications that want to use your location data for everything from Foursquare check-ins to geotagging photos. Although Apple’s policy change was recent, iPhone applications have been able to access your iPhone’s precise location information since iPhone OS 3.
Controlling your iPhone location data
Under the recently released iOS 4, Apple has added new controls for location services that help you understand how your location data is being used. As was the case with iPhone OS 3, whenever an iPhone application wants to use your location data you must explicitly authorize it do so. In iOS 4, after that first-time authorization, a small arrow appears on the top right of your iPhone screen every time your location information is being accessed by an application.
Apple also gives you granular control over which apps can use your location data in a new panel under Settings>General>Location Services. From here you can turn off all location services for your iPhone just as you could with iPhone OS 3. New in iOS 4, however, is a list of apps that are able to use your location data. You can choose to permanently block any app using your location data including Apple’s own applications like the camera and Safari.
