14 DAY TRIAL // An alleged email exchange between an Apple fan and CEO Steve Jobs indicates that LocationGate is all bogus, whereas Android phones really do track users’ whereabouts and even send the info back to Google’s HQ.
For those who aren’t in the loop, two security researchers have recently discovered that iOS tracks and stores user location information in a file that is then easily interpretable on the computer used to sync that device.
While the veracity of the conversation cannot be verified, MacRumors posts the following purported email exchange between a reader of the website and Steve Jobs himself who allegedly replied with one of his typically terse messages, even trying to create a diversion to shift the media’s attention away from his company.
Q: Steve,
Could you please explain the necessity of the passive location-tracking tool embedded in my iPhone? It's kind of unnerving knowing that my exact location is being recorded at all times. Maybe you could shed some light on this for me before I switch to a Droid. They don't track me.
A: Oh yes they do. We don't track anyone. The info circulating around is false.
Sent from my iPhone
Apple has previously tried to justify its mistakes / actions by pointing out to its competitors’ practices (i.e. the AntennaGate fiasco).
By telling this Apple fan that Android (Google) does track him / her, Jobs is presumably protecting the iPhone brand, but he fails to provide any specifics as to why this discovery has led to such a scandal.
However, you can’t not sit in awe at how Jobs operates, when he takes the time to answer fans’ emails, but doesn’t bother to reply to those fired by United States Senator Al Franken, who has been very specific in his concerns regarding the new security issue posed by the iOS mobile operating system.