Q: Steve,
Could you please explain the necessity of the passive location-tracking tool embedded in my iPhone? It’s kind of unnerving knowing that my exact location is being recorded at all times. Maybe you could shed some light on this for me before I switch to a Droid. They don’t track me.
A: Oh yes they do. We don’t track anyone. The info circulating around is false.
The hew and cry that has circulated around the fact that the iPhone is indeed recording your approximate location has increased in the last few days, and during this time, Apple has kept relatively quiet. So someone decided to ask Steve directly. And as always, Steve’s brief answer asks more questions than it answers.
Of course there has been the blowback that Android does it too. Yes, Android has been shown to also gather location information, but the database is limited to a much smaller list of entries and is regularly wiped by the system. But to use Steve’s own logic, Google is not tracking you either.
So, no one is doing anything with that unencrypted by default database on my phone showing basically where I’ve been.
So, why is it there?
Of course all of this could easily be bypassed with some simple common sense. Over the last ten to fifteen years, our privacy has morphed due to all the wonderful little gadgets out there that allow us to be the attention whores we have become. Some of us, however, still cling to the notion that what I do, where I go and what I think is no one’s business but my own. And there is a large number of us that really do not like the idea that people, companies, and governments are just getting bits and pieces of our lives without out immediate knowledge. So I propose to all companies out there a simple solution. You want to know how I am living my life? You want to know everything about me, even the bits you really didn’t want to know?
Pay me.
Money soothes a lot of psychic wounds. You offer enough cash and people will allow you to set up cameras in their bathroom. Call it “The Magic Christian” effect. After all, Steve, you are making money off knowing more about me; all I am suggesting is a real time partnership. You pimp me out to as many companies as you want, and I will live my life like a Kardashian. You want to know more, pay me more. I know, why buy the cow when you’re getting the milk for free, but time’s are changing, Steve. The more people come to dislike the fact that this is being done without their knowledge, the more my little scenario will make good business sense. Why face a revolt, especially in times like these?
