Apple Sending VP of Software to Senate Hearing to Discuss Location Data

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locationgate

In an effort to appease the angered politicians in Washington, Apple is sending VP of Software, Bud Tribble, to the Senate hearing to discuss the storage of location data on iPhones. Location-Gate became one of the hottest topics concerning privacy and the use of cellular phones recently. At the center of the controversy, Apple quickly released an update to iOS (4.3.3) to amend the issue of iPhones storing user’s location data, which could possibly be acquired via a third-party to discern everywhere the user has been over the past few months. Senator Alan Franken has been the most vocal opponent of the recent discovery and was the one to initiate the hearing.

Bud Tribble has been with Apple since the 80’s, but as a Jobs loyalist, he left the company when Steve was ousted and became one of the founding members of NeXT, serving as the company’s VP of Software Development where he worked on projects that would later become the foundation for OS X.


Despite releasing a Q&A regarding Location Data on April 27th, along with the fix to iOS, Steve Jobs said the company will comply with the desires of congress and make an appearance at the hearing. In an interview with All Things D, Jobs stated, “They have asked us to come and we will honor their request, of course. I think it is great that they are investigating this and I think it will be interesting to see how agressive or lazy the press is on this in terms of investigating the rest of the participants in the industry and finding out what they do.”

Jobs was quick to point out that Apple isn’t the only company that tracks location data, as Google supported Android phones also track and store user location data anonymously. Google’s Alan Davidson will be making an appearance at the hearing as well.

[via TNW]

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