Senator Al Franken wants answers from Apple CEO Steve Jobs on reports that the devices can track users’ location. Google Android Phones Apparent track and receive transmissions of data from Android devices.

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I am actually not very concerned about tracking accept when it is being used for marketing purposes. Google has a direct pecuniary interest in mining this data while Apple's interest is a good bit more murky plus there is no evidence that Apple is actually being transmitted this data where Google is being transmitted this data.

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Report: Google, Too, Is Collecting Location Information From Phones : The Two-Way : NPR

Image via CrunchBaseReport: Google, Too, Is Collecting Location Information From Phones : The Two-Way : NPR

by EYDER PERALTA

Two days after researchers discovered that Apple's iPhone keeps an unencrypted log of everywhere you go, The Wall Street Journal reports that Google is also collecting location information from Android devices:

In the case of Google, according to new research by security analyst Samy Kamkar, an HTC Android phone collected its location every few seconds and transmitted the data to Google at least several times an hour. It also transmitted the name, location and signal strength of any nearby Wi-Fi networks, as well as a unique phone identifier.

Google declined to comment on the findings.

Until last year, Google was collecting similar Wi-Fi data with its fleet of StreetView cars that map and photograph streets world-wide. The company shut down its StreetView Wi-Fi collection last year after it inadvertently collected e-mail addresses, passwords and other personal information from Wi-Fi networks. The data that Mr. Kamkar observed being transmitted on Android phones didn't include such personal information.

Google's passive collection of data has come under scrutiny before. In response, it has said the data they collect is anonymous and at least for the data used for traffic information on Google Maps, Google says it deletes the start and end point of each trip.

Google even has a page explaining how to opt out of sending your GPS coordinates to the Google Maps' My Location. When you first setup an Android phone, it specifically asks if you'd like to send anonymous data to Google. A user has the ability to turn off location services.

Here's the rub: Turning off location services would in essence take away what makes mobile devices so appealing. It means you couldn't

find your nearest pizza joint on Yelp! or use Google Maps to find your way back home.

Google took issue with the Journal's use of the word "unique phone identifier." The number Google receives is random, they say, and it is only used in order for the servers to be able to adequately communicate with the phone.

"All location sharing on Android is opt-in by the user" read a statement released by Google. "We provide users with notice and control over the collection, sharing and use of location in order to provide a better mobile experience on Android devices. Any location data that is sent back to Google location servers is anonymized and is not tied or traceable to a specific user."

On the Apple front, yesterday, Congressman Ed Markey (D-Mass.) sent a letter to Apple's CEO Steve Jobs.

"I am concerned about this report and the consequences of this feature for individuals," Markey wrote.

Markey then asks several questions from Jobs. Among them: Did Apple notify its users that iPhones were recording location and Wi-Fi information and then copying a backup file with that info onto the computer with which the device is synchronized? What is Apple using this information for and is it for commercial reasons? What is Apple doing to protect the underage users who own their devices?

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Apple's Jobs Calls Shots From Home - WSJ.com

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeApple's Jobs Calls Shots From Home - WSJ.com

Three weeks into a medical leave he took "to focus on my health," Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs is staying closely involved in the company's strategic decisions and product development, according to people familiar with the matter.

The 55-year-old Mr. Jobs, whose ailment hasn't been disclosed, has been taking business meetings at home and on the phone, these people said.

He also has been seen on Apple's Cupertino, Calif., campus and in public in Palo Alto, Calif., with a company executive, said people familiar with the matter.

Among products he is continuing to work on are the next version of the iPad tablet computer, expected out in the next couple of months, and a new iPhone, expected to be released this summer, said two of these people.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Apple has started manufacturing a new iPad, which includes a front-facing camera and other new features, and which will be available through Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc.

Inside Apple, meanwhile, day-to-day operations continue nearly unchanged under Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook, said people inside the company and at its business partners. While several of them said there is a sense of sadness about Mr. Jobs's health struggles, they said Apple employees are focused on their jobs and projects.

"Steve is the CEO of Apple and during his medical leave he'll continue to be involved in major strategic decisions," said an Apple spokeswoman. Messrs. Jobs and Cook didn't respond to requests for comment.

Mr. Jobs, who was treated for a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2004 and who got a liver transplant in 2009, said in January that he would take a leave of absence for an unspecified period. His health status remains unclear. Apple has said it will say no more about his condition.

Medical experts not involved in his care have speculated that there are many reasons why he might need medical attention again, including possible metastasis of the cancer or complications arising from the transplant. People who have seen Mr. Jobs in the past few months said he continues to look thin. A drastic weight loss was one indication of the severity of the CEO's illness two years ago before he received his liver transplant.

The company and Mr. Jobs appear to be going about things in much the same way as they did during his previous medical leave, at the time of his transplant, said people familiar with the matter. During that leave, Mr. Jobs continued to work on Apple strategy and products from home.

While some people at Apple said there was concern about Apple's future during Mr. Jobs's previous leave, Apple stock rose 78% while Mr. Cook steered the company through his nearly six-month absence. Mr. Cook's performance then has made Apple employees more secure about his taking the reins again, said people familiar with the matter. One of these people said Mr. Jobs often worked from home even before his leave.

Apple's business has been gaining momentum, and people inside the company are enthusiastic about the new products and services they are working on, said the people familiar with the matter.

Last month, Apple reported a 78% increase in profit and 71% rise in revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 25 on strong demand for its iPhones, iPads and Macintosh computers. Apple is expected to see more iPhone sales in the current quarter as Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group PLC, begins selling the smartphone for the first time starting Thursday.

Wall Street so far appears to be unfazed by Mr. Jobs's leave. Apple's stock has risen about 1.7% to $354.54 since Jan. 17, when he announced it.

His leave "is a concern because people view [Mr. Jobs] as the head innovator, but...I feel Apple can continue down its path with or without Steve," said Mike Binger, fund manager at Thrivent Asset Management in Minneapolis, which holds Apple shares as part of the $70 billion in assets it manages.

Some Apple watchers said they are withholding judgment about the seriousness of Mr. Jobs's health until the company's annual Worldwide Developers Conference in early June, at which the CEO traditionally gives the keynote address and unveils the latest version of the iPhone. "App developers are waiting to see if Steve will come back to give the keynote at WWDC," said Vishal Gurbuxani, a co-founder of mobile-ad company Mobclix Inc.

Apple hasn't announced the dates for this year's conference, but San Francisco's Moscone Center, which has hosted the event for the past few years, has June 5-9 blocked out for a "corporate meeting" on its online events calendar.

A spokeswoman for Moscone Center declined to comment.

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AppleInsider | Purported next-gen iPad cases being taken down

Image via WikipediaAppleInsider | Purported next-gen iPad cases being taken down

By Josh Ong

Published: 10:50 PM EST

Cases purported to be for Apple's next-generation iPad that were posted to a Chinese trade site are being removed after the site received a "legitimate takedown request," possibly lending credence to their authenticity, according to a new report.

Earlier this week, international business-to-business trading site Alibaba.com received a request to remove the case listings, The Wall Street Journal reports.

“We do not know whether these products are what they say they are, but we have received a legitimate takedown request and are removing the listings,” Alibaba Group spokesman John Spelich told the Journal, though he declined to comment on the source of the request.

Early this month, cases allegedly for the second-generation iPad with space for a rear-facing camera and a mysterious cutout on the bottom near the speaker were spotted online. After a Japanese Mac blog posted a report that the next-generation of Apple's successful tablet device would have a flat back and wide-range speaker, leaked cases advertised as for the "iPad 2" were discovered on Alibaba.com with illustrations of an enlarged speaker grille on the back of the device.

According to the Journal report, several listings for the case had been taken down by Friday, though at least two remained as of Friday afternoon in Beijing. Spelich said the company is working on removing all the listings.

A man who answered the phone for one of the case suppliers contacted by the Journal said that his company works with Apple manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry and possesses first hand material on the features of the new iPad, calling the case design "extremely accurate." The man declined to give his name, saying the matter was "very serious."

Hon Hai spokespeople denied connections between the company and the Alibaba.com case listings and called the case supplier's remarks "hostile."

Reports of the second-generation iPad have gained momentum as of late. Earlier this week, one industry insider suggested that the upcoming tablet will include a USB port. Another report suggested that Apple plans to build Wi-Fi, UMTS and CDMA models of the next iPad.

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BBC News - Facebook uncovers user data sales

BBC News - Facebook uncovers user data sales

Facebook has taken action against developers it caught selling user names and contact lists.

The sales were uncovered as Facebook investigated a web browser bug that let user IDs be shared inadvertently.

The user details were sold to data brokers who used the information to target adverts more precisely.

The developers have been banned for six months from connecting to Facebook and must be audited to check they comply with the social network's policies.

Facebook started investigating what was happening with user identifiers (UIDs) following media reports that the information and lists of contacts were being sold on to advertising firms.

In a blog post, Facebook said its investigation showed that the technical demands of some browsers meant that some user IDs were being leaked.

It also discovered that some developers that create applications for the social network were taking the user IDs of those who used their creations and selling them on.

Facebook said the investigation "determined that no private user data was sold and confirmed that transfer of these UIDs did not give access to any private data".

More...

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Facebook in Online Privacy Breach; Applications Transmitting Identifying Information - WSJ.com

Image via WikipediaFacebook in Online Privacy Breach; Applications Transmitting Identifying Information - WSJ.com

Many of the most popular applications, or "apps," on the social-networking site Facebook Inc. have been transmitting identifying information—in effect, providing access to people's names and, in some cases, their friends' names—to dozens of advertising and Internet tracking companies, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found.

The issue affects tens of millions of Facebook app users, including people who set their profiles to Facebook's strictest privacy settings. The practice breaks Facebook's rules, and renews questions about its ability to keep identifiable information about its users' activities secure.

The problem has ties to the growing field of companies that build detailed databases on people in order to track them online—a practice the Journal has been examining in its What They Know series. It's unclear how long the breach was in place. On Sunday, a Facebook spokesman said it is taking steps to "dramatically limit" the exposure of users' personal information.

Many top applications on Facebook have been transmitting identifying information to Internet tracking and ad companies. Emily Steel discusses. Also, Michael Ramsey discusses skepticism about the auto industry's big bet that battery-powered cars will become big sellers.

"A Facebook user ID may be inadvertently shared by a user's Internet browser or by an application," the spokesman said. Knowledge of an ID "does not permit access to anyone's private information on Facebook," he said, adding that the company would introduce new technology to contain the problem identified by the Journal.

"Our technical systems have always been complemented by strong policy enforcement, and we will continue to rely on both to keep people in control of their information," the Facebook official said.

More...

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Tracking The Companies That Track You Online : NPR

Tracking The Companies That Track You Online : NPR

One of the fastest-growing online businesses is the business of spying on Internet users by using sophisticated software to track movements through the Web, so that the information can be sold to advertisers.

Julia Angwin recently led a team of reporters from The Wall Street Journal in analyzing the tracking software. They discovered that nearly all of the most commonly visited websites gather information in real time about the behavior of online users. The Journal series identified more than 100 tracking companies, data brokers and advertising networks collecting data — which are then sold on a stock market-like exchange to online advertisers.

In a recent conversation with Fresh Air contributor Dave Davies, Angwin explains how consumer surveillance works, how users can disable the tracking software — and how advertisers are continually evolving to keep up with the data they receive. She notes that many Internet users are unaware that their information is being tracked and then traded.

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BBC News - Google boss Eric Schmidt warns on social use of media

Image via WikipediaBBC News - Google boss Eric Schmidt warns on social use of media

Young people may have one day have to change their names in order to escape their previous online activity, Google boss Eric Schmidt has warned.

Mr Schmidt told the Wall Street Journal he feared they did not understand the consequences of having so much personal information about them online.

The firm has been busy bolstering its social networking presence recently.

Google has acquired Slide and Zynga, two firms specialising in games and apps for social networks.

Many believe the acquisitions are a sign that the search giant is about to launch another social network. Some commentators have already given the rumoured product a name: Google.me.

Continue reading the main story

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It already owns two other social networks; Google Buzz, launched in February 2010 and its first foray known as Orkut.

Buzz proved controversial when it linked up with people's Gmail accounts without asking their consent, meaning that their contacts were publicly visible.

Young folly

On his prediction that people may change their names, Mr Schmidt said: "I don't believe society understands what happens when everything is available, knowable and recorded by everyone all the time... I mean we really have to think about these things as a society."

Continue reading the main story

“

Start Quote

As a society, we are just going have to become a bit more forgiving of the follies of youth”

Suw Charman-Anderson

However, Mr Schmidt said that Google would likely store more personal information about its users in the future.

At the moment, he said, "we know roughly who you are, roughly what you care about, roughly who your friends are."

But, according to some experts, his concerns about the future are "overstated".

"The idea that everything is stored online is not true," social media consultant Suw Charman-Anderson told BBC News.

"It will be quite some time before that can become true because of the enormity of the internet."

More...

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Apple's New iAds Platform Is Slow to Take Off - WSJ.com

Apple's New iAds Platform Is Slow to Take Off - WSJ.com

Apple Inc. is facing some early challenges in its closely watched mobile advertising foray, with some ad campaigns experiencing delays as agencies attempt to learn the new system amid Apple's tight control over the creative process, according to ad executives.

Since launching its iAd mobile advertising service on July 1, Apple has been slow to roll it out. Of the 17 launch partners Apple named for iAd, only Unilever PLC and Nissan Co. had iAd campaigns for much of July. Of the remaining 17, Citigroup Inc., Walt Disney Co. and J.C. Penney Co.—which tied its campaign to the back-to-school-season—have since launched iAd campaigns and other companies are planning iAd efforts.

Part of the reason some marketers are experiencing delays in getting their iAds to market is that Apple has kept tight control on the creative aspects of ad-making, something advertisers aren't used to, according to several ad executives involved with creating iAds.

Access thousands of business sources not available on the free web. Learn More

That has made the creation of the mobile ads laborious, taking about eight to 10 weeks from brainstorm to completion—longer than normal for most mobile ads, executives said. The building of the actual ad, handled by Apple, in some cases is taking two weeks longer than expected, one person added.

"It's a huge issue having Apple in the creative mix," said Patrick Moorhead, director of mobile platforms at DraftFCB, an ad agency owned by Interpublic Group of Cos. Mr. Moorhead isn't working on any iAds.

At least one company appears to have dropped their iAd efforts for now. Luxury marketer Chanel SA, one of Apple's iAd launch partners, said it doesn't have a campaign planned at this time.

More...

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Apple's iOS4 Issues Take Center Stage - PCWorld

Apple's iOS4 Issues Take Center Stage - PCWorld 

Now that Apple has pacified iPhone 4 customers with free bumper cases to alleviate antenna issues, the company is looking into problems with iOS 4 and the iPhone 3G.

For more than a month, iPhone 3G owners have raged on Apple's support forums about the latest operating system update. It's bad enough that the iPhone 3G doesn't support multitasking -- the two-year-old phone just isn't powerful enough -- but slow performance, battery drain and hot hardware are making matters worse.

On YouTube, one user created a parody video showing all the tasks performed in one of Apple's first iPhone ads, except running iOS4. The parody was three times longer than the original 30-second commercial, as the iPhone 3G stuttered its way through music, e-mail, the Internet and a phone call.

Apple told the Wall Street Journal that it's aware of the reports and is looking into the matter, but didn't explicitly say a solution was coming and didn't give a timeline.

This doesn't bode well for a quick fix; iPhone 4 users are still waiting for Apple to address the phone's proximity sensor, which is allowing accidental hang-ups and other commands when the phone is held close to the cheek. Apple promised during its iPhone 4 antenna press conference that it would fix the problem soon, and that was three weeks ago.

Although the sluggish iOS4 performance on the iPhone 3G and the iPhone 4's proximity sensor issues are arguably more frustrating to more users, their ability to be fixed with software allowed them to dodge the antenna hysteria. But with Apple putting out the "antennagate" fire, the pressure's on to make things right with iOS4.

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Apple investigating iOS 4 problems on iPhone 3G | MacNN

Image via CrunchBase

Apple investigating iOS 4 problems on iPhone 3G | MacNN

Apple has begun investigating reports of problems running iOS 4 on the iPhone 3G. An Apple spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal that the company is aware of the complaints and is currently looking into the situation.

Many users have reported problems with excessive battery drain, heat, and overall performance. Although the new OS was expected to run a bit slower on the older hardware, even with multitasking disabled, some users claim iOS 4 effectively makes the iPhone 3G unusable in certain situations.

Apple has yet to provide a solution for the problems or advise against the upgrade for older iPhones.

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