Apple location tracker file: Congressman asks Steve Jobs to explain by May 12

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Following widespread attention drawn by a file embedded on Apple iPhones and iPads that keeps a detailed log of the devices’ location, Congressman Ed Markey (D-Mass.) has sent Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs a letter asking him to explain the purpose of the file.

‘I am concerned about this report and the consequences of this feature for individuals’ privacy,’ Markey wrote to Jobs in a letter released Thursday (see below). Markey then listed a number of questions about the location file, Apple’s uses for it, whether the company intentionally created it to track users and whether it’s used for commercial purposes.

Markey, who has written to Apple over location privacy concerns before, requested an answer to his questions by May 12.

From Rep. Markey: Apple Ios Letter 04.21.11

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-- David Sarno