iPhone LocationGate Prompts Senate Hearing (Google Too)
The iPhone LocationGate scandal continues to escalate.
Senator Al Franken has summoned Apple and Google to appear before a Senate judiciary hearing on mobile privacy in May.
Sen. Franken (D-MN — a grandstander, in our opinion) chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy. He’s called a hearing for May 10: “Protecting Mobile Privacy: Your Smartphones, Tablets, Cell Phones and Your Privacy,”
“This hearing is the first step in making certain that federal laws protecting consumers’ privacy — particularly when it comes to mobile devices — keep pace with advances in technology,”
said Sen. Franken in a statement.
As well as Apple and Google, the Senate hearing will feature Justin Brookman, Director of the Center for Democracy and Technology’s Project on Consumer Privacy; Ashkan Soltani, an independent privacy researcher; and officials from the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission.
The hearing is the latest development in the snowballing scandal, which is a massive non-issue and appears to be a fairly harmless programming mistake or oversight.
But while Steve Jobs says the issue has been misrepresented, it’s already the subject of class-action lawsuits; government investigations in several countries in Europe and Asia; and an investigation by the Illinois Attorney General.
Leander Kahney is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac, and author of three books about technology culture: 
