Apple denies that the location service prevents protecting the privacy of Chinese users

Last week the Chinese state television called the iPhone a 'national security risk« due precisely to the capacity of the location. The operating system uses this service for many applications, such as Maps, Weather, Traffic, etc. The use of this service it is not incompatible with maintaining privacy of the user and is also a priority for the brand.

Apple states that «privacy is built into [your] products and services from the earliest stages of design. We work tirelessly to deliver the world's most secure hardware and software«. He also explains that he uses el Industry leading encryption to protect location data, and it says that all location data is stored only on the iPhone, and not on Apple's servers.

Apple explain that does not work with government agencies to spy on your customers: «Apple has never worked with any government agency of any country or created no back door in our products or services. We have also not allowed access to our servers. And we never will. It's something we feel very strongly«.

Maps

Users want and expect their mobile devices to quickly and reliably determine their locations for specific activities, such as shopping, traveling, finding the closest restaurant, or calculating the amount of time it takes to get to work. This does device level. Apple does not record user locations.

Apps from the App Store and their location services settings

Apple gives customers control over the collection and use of location data on all devices. The user have to make the decision of allow location services, is not a default value. Apple does not allow any application to receive information on the location of the device without first receiving the explicit consent of the user through a simple pop-up alert. This alert is mandatory and cannot be overridden. Customers can change their mind and a simple toggle deny permission at any time.

Traffic, iOS in the car, the notification center and iTunes in the cloud

When it comes to using the iPhone for the conditions of the traffic, iOS can go to Frequent locations to provide information. Frequent Locations is only stored on a customer's device, no backup to iTunes or iCloud, and also encrypt. Apple can't get a user's Frequent Locations and this feature can also be disabled through our privacy options.

Of course lto Apple's quick and direct response in the face of these claims concerning the tracking or location of users, indicates how seriously the company deals with this issue both in its public perception and at the customer level. The full letter can be found below in English.

English version of Apple's statement

Apple is deeply committed to protecting the privacy of all our customers. Privacy is built into our products and services from the earliest stages of design. We work tirelessly to deliver the most secure hardware and software in the world. Unlike many companies, our business does not depend on collecting large amounts of personal data about our customers. We are strongly committed to giving our customers clear and transparent notice, choice and control over their information, and we believe our products do this in a simple and elegant way.

We appreciate CCTV's effort to help educate customers on a topic we think is very important. We want to make sure all of our customers in China are clear about what we do and we don't do when it comes to privacy and your personal data.

Our customers want and expect their mobile devices to be able to quickly and reliably determine their current locations for specific activities such as shopping, travel, finding the nearest restaurant or calculating the amount of time it takes them to get to work. We do this at the device level. Apple does not track users' locations - Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so.

Calculating a phone's location using just GPS satellite data can take several minutes. iPhone can reduce this time to just a few seconds by using pre-stored WLAN hotspot and cell tower location data in combination with information about which hotspots and cell towers are currently being received by the iPhone. In order to accomplish this goal, Apple maintains a secure crowd-sourced database containing known locations of cell towers and WLAN hotspots that Apple collects from millions of Apple devices. It's important to point out that during this collection process, an Apple device does not transmit any data that is uniquely associated with the device or the customer.

Apple gives customers control over collection and use of location data on all our devices. Customers have to make the choice to enable Location Services, it is not a default setting. Apple does not allow any app to receive device location information without first receiving the user's explicit consent through a simple pop-up alert. This alert is mandatory and cannot be overridden. Customers may change their mind and opt-out of Location Services for individual apps or services at any time by using simple “On / Off” switches. When a user turns “Off” location data for an app or service, it stops collecting the data. Parents can also use Restrictions to prevent access by their children to Location Services.

When it comes to using iPhone for traffic conditions, iOS can capture Frequent Locations to provide commute information in the Today view of Notification Center and to show you automatic routing for iOS in CarPlay. Frequent Locations are only stored on a customer's iOS device, they are not backed up on iTunes or iCloud, and are encrypted. Apple does not obtain or know a user's Frequent Locations and this feature can always be turned “Off” via our privacy settings.

Apple does not have access to Frequent Locations or the location cache on any user's iPhone at any time. We encrypt the cache by the user's passcode and it is protected from access by any app. In the interest of even greater transparency for our customers, if a user enters their passcode successfully, they are able to see the data collected on their device. Once the device is locked no one is able to view that information without entering the passcode.

As we have stated before, Apple has never worked with any government agency from any country to create a backdoor in any of our products or services. We have also never allowed access to our servers. And we never will. It's something we feel very strongly about.