[LINK] Fwd: [PRIVACY] Senate Hearing re Location Features of Apple Products

[Jan Whitaker]

[is Jobs joining Google on the 'dark side'?]


><http://voices.washingtonpost.com/posttech/2010/06/lawmakers_grill_apple_ceo_jobs.html>http://voices.washingtonpost.com/posttech/2010/06/lawmakers_grill_apple_ceo_jobs.html
>Lawmakers grill Apple CEO Jobs on location information gathering
>Key lawmakers want to know from Apple how it collects and uses 
>information about the geography of iPhone and iPad users through 
>location-based applications.
>Reps. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Joe Barton (R-Texas), 
>co-chairman of the House Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus, Thursday sent a 
>letter to Apple CEO Steve Jobs asking about recent press reports 
>that the company has updated its privacy policies to alert users 
>that it is collecting and using information about users' precise 
>geographic location.
>The Los Angeles times wrote first about the inclusion of location 
>data in Apple's general privacy policy. The company declined to 
>comment on the report, but the company has been collecting 
>location-based data of users since 2008 and it included a disclosure 
>of the practice in its end user license agreements.
>
>The lawmakers said they were concerned that users appeared to 
>automatically be included in Apple's gathering of geographic data 
>unless they actively opt out of having information collected about them.
>"Given the limited ability of Apple users to opt out of the revised 
>policy and still be able to take advantage of the features of their 
>Apple products, we are concerned about the impact the collection of 
>such data could have on the privacy of Apple's customers," the 
>lawmakers wrote in the letter.
>
>Lawmakers and regulators have placed greater attention on 
>location-based services, which are a goldmine of information for 
>advertisers but have sparked concerns by privacy advocates.
>
>Here are some of the questions Markey and Barton asked Jobs to 
>answer by July 12:
>1. Which specific Apple products are being used by Apple to collect 
>geographic location data?
>2. When did Apple begin collecting this location data, and how often 
>is data collected from a given consumer?
>3. Does Apple collect this location data from all consumers using 
>Apple products? If the answer is no, please explain which consumers 
>Apple is collecting information from and the reasons that these 
>consumers were chosen for monitoring.
>4. How many consumers are subject to this collection of location data?
>5. What internal procedures are in place to ensure that any location 
>data is stored "anonymously in a form that does not personally 
>identify" individual consumers?
>6. Please explain in detail why Apple decided to begin collecting 
>location data at this time, and how it intends to use the data.
>7. Is Apple sharing consumer location information collected through 
>iPhones and iPads with AT&T or other telecommunications carriers?
>8. Who are the unspecified "partners and licensees" with which Apple 
>shares this location data, and what are the terms and conditions of 
>such information sharing? How does this comply with the requirements 
>of Section 222 of the Communications Act, which mandates that no 
>consumer location information be shared without the explicit prior 
>consent of the consumer?
>9. Does Apple believe that legal boilerplate in a general 
>information policy, which the consumer must agree to in order to 
>download applications or updates, is fully consistent with the 
>intent of Section 222, and sufficient to inform the consumer that 
>the consumer's location may be disclosed to other parties? Has Apple 
>or its legal counsel conducted an analysis of this issue? If yes, 
>please provide a copy. If not, why not?


Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com

Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or 
sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.
~Madeline L'Engle, writer

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