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Rosa Golijan

iPhone tracks you, even with location feature disabled

As we've previously reported, Apple's iPhone is tracking and recording users' locations without ever giving individuals the chance to opt-out of the process. There were suggestions that turning off the device's location services feature — which is on by default and necessary in order for many apps to run properly — would put an end to the tracking, but testing reveals otherwise.  

The WSJ conducted tests to determine whether or not an iPhone 4 would cease recording location data once its location services feature was turned off. In order to do that, a device was restored to its default factory settings after it was confirmed that it was running the latest version of Apple's iOS software:

The Journal disabled location services (which are on by default) and immediately recorded the data that had initially been gathered by the phone. The Journal then carried the phone to new locations and observed the data. Over the span of several hours as the phone was moved, it continued to collect location data from new places.

These data included coordinates and time stamps; however, the coordinates were not from the exact locations that the phone traveled, and some of them were several miles away. The phone also didn't indicate how much time was spent in a given location.

The Wall Street Journal's findings were verified by independent security researcher Ashkan Soltani and are said to match up with user reports on some blogs and message boards. 

This testing indicates that iPhone users are helpless to stop the location tracking — unless they choose to install an unauthorized and shady third-party app — and adds to growing concerns regarding consumer privacy.

It is still not clear why Apple is recording this information — though there are suggestions that it is using it to build a database of known cell tower and Wi-Fi access point locations — and Apple hasn't released a recent public statement, nor has the company responded to reporter requests for comments on the issue.

Some note that users should've been aware of the tracking issue all along as it is mentioned in the end-user licensing agreement which appears the first time any iPhone is connected to iTunes for activation, but unfortunately the reality is that most "people click right through privacy notifications and breeze over or ignore such legalese."

As it stands, at least two members of Congress are attempting to determine why location data is being recorded by iPhones, how it is being used, and why "Apple consumers [were] never affirmatively informed of the collection and retention of their location data in this manner."

Related stories:

• Apple, Google tap phone location data: report
• Government officials want answers to secret iPhone tracking
• How to disable your iPhone's creepy tracking feature

Rosa Golijan writes about tech here and there. She's a bit obsessed with Twitter and loves to be liked on Facebook.