Senator Franken Schedules Hearing on Apple Geolocation Tracking

Asks why Apple collects and saves personal data

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 4/26/2011 11:05:17 AM

Add Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.) to the legislators concerned about Apple's geolocation tracking on iPhones and iPads; he has scheduled a hearing in his privacy subcommittee on the issue.
 
He has sent a letter to Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Franken said he was concerned that the information was stored in unencrypted form both on the devices and computers used to synch their info.
 
Among the questions he wants answered are why Apple collects and saves the data, whether it does so for laptops as well, why consumers were not "affirmatively informed" it was being collected, whether it squares with Apple's privacy policy, and who, if anyone, has access to the info.
 
Franken, who is chair of a newly created Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law, plans to hold the committee's first hearing May 10 on the issue of "Protecting Mobile Privacy: Your Smart Phones, Tablets, Cell Phones and Your Privacy."