Apple is out with a detailed statement explaining how the company uses location data, an issue that has been at the forefront since last week when researchers revealed that the iPhone includes a hidden file that stores latitude, longitude and timestamps.
The statement, which takes the form of ten questions and answers, leads with the company saying that “Apple is not tracking the location of your iPhone. Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so,” sentiments that were echoed in an email from Steve Jobs released earlier in the week.
That said, the company does go on to acknowledge two “bugs” -- one relating to how much data the phone stores (“up to a year's worth”) from Wi-Fi hotspots and cell tower triangulation, and another that continues to update this information even when a user turns Location Services off. The company plans to address both of these issues with a software update as well as discontinue the practice of backing up this data in iTunes when a user syncs with his or her computer.
So what exactly is Apple doing then? The company says that it’s “not [tracking] the past or present location of the iPhone, but rather the locations of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers surrounding the iPhone’s location, which can be more than one hundred miles away from the iPhone.” That data is anonymously sent to Apple, in encrypted form.