That iOS File With Your Location Data

By  |  Friday, April 22, 2011 at 11:45 am

Here’s a good, clear story by Brian X. Chen of Wired on the facts about Apple’s CONSOLIDATED.DB file, which contains information on where iPhone and iPad users have been. It’s not a conspiracy or a terrifying security hole–but it is worth being concerned about.

 
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  1. Mike Cerm Says:
    April 22nd, 2011 at 2:51 pm

    I do consider this a serious privacy (and security) issue. As long as they abide by the "location services" toggle switch, and do not track me while it's switched off, then I guess there's not really much of a story here.

    However, there is a real, industry-wide issue with data-retention. There's no reason why this information should be kept on the phone for more than a day or so. Also, there's no reason why Apple (or any other company who aggregates data in a similar manner) should retain it, indefinitely, in a personally identifiable way, with absolutely no way for users to opt-out.