If you were concerned with how Apple was ever using your location data, a document containing information on how they collect and use your geo-information was released this afternoon. The Los Angeles Times explains some of the details about your data.
Apple noted that user location information cannot be collected unless a user has the device’s location-services turned on, and has allowed individual applications such as Google Maps or Yelp to use location data. For many users, these settings are set the first time they use a device and application, but not seen frequently afterward.
Once a user has accepted those terms, the company can collect and store the data. It does so, it says, by collecting “batched” sets of location data from user devices once every 12 hours. Devices with GPS chips – like all recent-model iPhones – know their position based on satellite signals, and others can triangulate their location using data about nearby cellular towers and Wi-Fi access points.
It’s also addressed that your exact location is anonymized via a zip-code instead. For the full document, check out the Scribd document here.
[via Los Angeles Times]
