Apple: Relax, We Aren’t Tracking You...

...But there are a few bugs in the iPhone's location software
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 27, 2011 11:16 AM CDT
Apple: Relax, We Aren’t Tracking You...
In this June 19, 2009 file photo, an Apple store employee activates an Apple iPhone 3G, in New York.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, file)

Apple finally responded to the accusations that it was tracking iPhone users’ locations today, saying it “has never done so and has no plans to ever do so.” In a statement, which you can read on TechCrunch, the company explained that it was actually keeping a log not of the phone’s location, but of the location of WiFi hotspots and cell towers, “some of which may be located more than one hundred miles away from your iPhone.”

The data is used to more quickly triangulate users’ position when they use location-based services, and is sent to Apple anonymously. But the company did admit to some “bugs” in the software—like that it keeps collecting data even after you’ve turned Location Services off, and that it stored years of data, instead of the week's worth it needs—and promised an iOS update to fix them. And, just to add some positive news to the cycle, it also announced that the rumored white iPhone will be available tomorrow, Time reports. (More iPhone stories.)

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