Google's Location cache in Android
So the big news for the past week has been Apple gathering ‘location data’ from iPhones and iPads without users consent or knowledge. Worse is iTunes syncing the data when connected to your computer, as a backup. I was very disturbed by this.
I am sure I am going to get comments about how Google does the same, and yes they do (see picture), but the difference is, you are given the choice to opt-in to this service. In addition, you can opt-out at any time. Google is not a saint, we all know that, but they do a pretty decent job of informing their customers on what is being collected and what it’s being used for. You just have to read before pressing/clicking the “I Agree” button.
For those that know me, I am a bit of a technology geek, but my geekness is sometimes overshadowed by fear. Will the technology advance to the point that we can’ t control it? I am connected in ways that most people feel is extreme (but not as much as I could be, trust me), but I have educated myself enough to know the dangers and what to look for. Most people have not and for a company to take advantage like that is low.
Their argument will most likely be that it was explained in the Terms and Conditions. Since the users of the products in question accepted them, no harm, no foul. This is where the problem is, we are so used to accepting the terms and conditions without reading them. We have all done it at one point and another. These are contracts, and when we blindly agree to them, we are to blame, not the companies. But Apple did not specifically tell it’s customers (correct me if I am wrong, as I am not an Apple customer) that they were collecting this data, what the data is being used for and that it was going to be synced via iTunes. I don’t think that people would be as up in arms had they just been honest about it and gave people a choice to opt-in, like Google does.
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