“苹果（Apple）没有跟踪你的iPhone的位置。苹果过去没有这样做过，未来也不会。”

    上周三，两名英国研究者发布了一款开源程序，通过该程序，苹果用户能够以彩色地图的形式，看见自己iPhone和3G iPad中存储的位置数据，自那以来，关于“追踪门”的争议越来越大。为此苹果在针对此事件的新闻稿中做出了以上回应。

    本周三，苹果发布了一份新闻稿，煞费苦心地解释苹果具体在将哪些信息记录和传送回公司总部，而没有记录和传送哪些信息。

    新闻稿称：“用户之所以感到困惑，一部分原因在于新技术的创造者（包括苹果）没有向他们提供足够的与这些问题相关的培训。”

    本着向用户提供上述培训的精神，苹果用了好几种方式解释称，这些显示iPhone位置信息的地图其实显示的并不是你的iPhone真正的位置信息。

    实际上，iPhone会维护一个数据库，以记录你附近的Wi-Fi热点和小区发射塔信息，它们有些可能离你的iPhone超过100英里。这些数据会帮助iPhone在需要时快速而精确地得到你的iPhone的地理位置信息。

    iPhone存储了超过1年的地理信息数据，其原因被描述为“这是我们产品存在的缺陷，我们计划马上修复该缺陷。”此外，即便你关闭了地理信息服务，数据收集仍在进行，这是苹果计划马上修复的另一个缺陷。

    为了避免将来遇到更多争议，苹果利用此次机会告诉客户，它还在收集和共享以下几种信息：

    • 道路交通信息，为了几年之后发布更好的交通服务；

    • 崩溃记录，向第三方开发者提供，以帮助他们调试自己的应用程序；

    • 如果你明确许可，苹果将与iAd的客户共享你当前的位置信息，以帮助后者精准投放广告。

    以下是苹果新闻稿的全文：

2011年4月27日

苹果关于地理信息数据的问答

    苹果很高兴回答最近收到的关于我们的设备收集和使用地理位置信息的问题。

    1.为什么苹果跟踪我的iPhone的位置？

    苹果没有跟踪你的iPhone的位置。苹果过去没有，未来也不会。

    2. 那为什么大家都很关注此事？

    为移动用户提供快速而精确的位置信息，同时确保他们的安全和隐私，相关技术非常复杂，很难用一两句话说清楚。用户之所以感到困惑，一部分原因在于新技术的创造者（包括苹果）没有向他们提供足够的与这些问题相关的培训。

    3. 为什么iPhone会记录我的位置？

    iPhone没有记录你的位置。iPhone会维护一个数据库，以记录你附近的Wi-Fi热点和小区发射塔信息，它们有些可能离你的iPhone超过100英里，这些数据会帮助iPhone在需要时快速而精确地得到你的iPhone的地理位置信息。单独使用GPS（全球定位系统）卫星数据计算手机的位置要花费好几分钟。而iPhone能利用Wi-Fi热点和小区发射塔数据迅速发现GPS卫星，从而将定位时间缩短到几十秒。当GPS不可用时（例如在室内或地下室），iPhone甚至还能使用三角测量法，仅仅依靠Wi-Fi热点和小区发射塔数据计算出你的位置。iPhone利用含有Wi-Fi热点和小区发射塔数据的众包数据库（crowd-sourced database）进行实时计算，成千上万的iPhone会将自己附近的Wi-Fi热点和小区发射塔信息打上地理标签，并以匿名和加密格式发送给苹果。

    4. 众包数据库储存在iPhone上吗？

    整个众包数据库太大，不能存放在iPhone上，所以我们在每部iPhone上下载了它的一个合适子集（即缓存）。这块缓存是受保护的，但没有被加密，当你用iTunes备份iPhone时，缓存也会备份。备份是否加密取决于用户iTunes的设置。研究者在iPhone上发现的地理信息数据并不是iPhone之前或现在的位置信息，而是iPhone周围的Wi-Fi热点和小区发射塔数据，它们有些可能距离iPhone超过100英里。我们计划马上发布软件更新以停止缓存备份功能（参见接下来的软件更新章节）。

    5. 苹果能从我的带有地理标签的Wi-Fi热点和小区发射塔数据中获得我的位置信息吗？

    不能。发送给苹果的数据是匿名而且加密的。苹果无法确定数据来源。

    6. 人们发现iPhone存储了时间长达1年的地理信息数据。为什么iPhone需要如此多的数据以帮助定位我的当前位置？

    这些数据不是iPhone的地理信息数据——它们是基于众包的Wi-Fi热点和小区发射塔数据库的子集（即缓存），iPhone从苹果下载了这些数据以帮助用户快速而精确地定位。iPhone存储了如此多数据的原因在于我们的产品存在缺陷，我们计划马上修复该缺陷（参见接下来的软件更新章节）。我们认为iPhone存储的数据不应该超过7天。

    7. 为什么当我关闭了地理信息服务，iPhone有时仍从苹果的众包数据库里更新Wi-Fi热点和小区发射塔数据。

    这种情况不应该出现，这是产品缺陷，我们计划马上修正（参见接下来的软件更新章节）。

    8. 除了基于众包的Wi-Fi热点和小区发射塔数据，苹果还收集了哪些地理信息数据？

    苹果目前正在收集匿名交通数据，以建立基于众包的交通数据库。在未来几年，苹果将向iPhone用户提供更好的交通服务。

    9. 苹果目前向第三方提供了从iPhone收集的数据吗？

    我们会在获得用户允许的情况下，向第三方开发者提供匿名的程序崩溃记录，以帮助他们调试自己的应用程序。我们的iAds广告系统会利用地理信息作为投放广告的一个依据。地理信息不会与任何第三方或广告分享，除非用户明确同意将当前的地理信息提交给当前的广告（例如用户要求广告定位离自己最近的目标商场）。

    10. 苹果是否认为个人信息的安全和隐私非常重要？

    当然，这非常重要。例如，每一次应用程序想使用地理信息时，iPhone都会要求用户同意，iPhone是第一款这样做的设备。苹果将继续在巩固个人信息安全和隐私方面充当领导者角色。

软件更新

    接下来几周内，苹果将为iOS软件发布一个免费升级：

    • 减少iPhone上缓存的众包的Wi-Fi热点和小区发射塔数据的体积；

    • 停止备份缓存；

    • 当地理信息服务被关闭时，完全删除缓存。

    另外，在下一次iOS软件的重大升级中，iPhone上的缓存将被加密。

    译者：项航

    "Apple is not tracking the location of your iPhone. Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so."

    So begins Apple's (AAPL) response to the controversy that has been mounting since last Wednesday when two British researchers released an open source application that let Apple's customers see -- in the form of multicolor maps -- the location data stored on their iPhones and 3G iPads.

    In a press release issued Wednesday, the company took pains to explain exactly what data it is and isn't recording and transmitting back to headquarters.

    "Users are confused," it says, "partly because the creators of this new technology (including Apple) have not provided enough education about these issues to date."

    In the spirit of providing said education, Apple says in several different ways that the maps that show where your iPhone has been are not really maps of where your iPhone has been.

    Rather, [Apple is] maintaining a database of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers around your current location, some of which may be located more than one hundred miles away from your iPhone, to help your iPhone rapidly and accurately calculate its location when requested.

    The fact that this location was being saved for more than a year is described as "a bug we uncovered and plan to fix shortly." The fact that it is being collected even when your location services are turned off is another bug they plan to fix shortly.

    Meanwhile, to get ahead of possible future controversies, Apple used this opportunity to tell customers what other kinds of information it is collecting and sharing:

    • road traffic information, with an eye to releasing improved traffic services in a couple years

    • crash logs, which it provides to third-party developers to help them debug their apps

    • your current location, which it shares, if you explicitly approve it, with iAd customers to help them target their pitches

    Below: The full text of the press release.

April 27, 2011

Apple Q&A on Location Data

    Apple would like to respond to the questions we have recently received about the gathering and use of location information by our devices.

    1. Why is Apple tracking the location of my iPhone?

    Apple is not tracking the location of your iPhone. Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so.

    2. Then why is everyone so concerned about this?

    Providing mobile users with fast and accurate location information while preserving their security and privacy has raised some very complex technical issues which are hard to communicate in a soundbite. Users are confused, partly because the creators of this new technology (including Apple) have not provided enough education about these issues to date.

    3. Why is my iPhone logging my location?

    The iPhone is not logging your location. Rather, it's maintaining a database of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers around your current location, some of which may be located more than one hundred miles away from your iPhone, to help your iPhone rapidly and accurately calculate its location when requested. Calculating a phone's location using just GPS satellite data can take up to several minutes. iPhone can reduce this time to just a few seconds by using Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data to quickly find GPS satellites, and even triangulate its location using just Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data when GPS is not available (such as indoors or in basements). These calculations are performed live on the iPhone using a crowd-sourced database of Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data that is generated by tens of millions of iPhones sending the geo-tagged locations of nearby Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers in an anonymous and encrypted form to Apple.

    4. Is this crowd-sourced database stored on the iPhone?

    The entire crowd-sourced database is too big to store on an iPhone, so we download an appropriate subset (cache) onto each iPhone. This cache is protected but not encrypted, and is backed up in iTunes whenever you back up your iPhone. The backup is encrypted or not, depending on the user settings in iTunes. The location data that researchers are seeing on the iPhone is not the past or present location of the iPhone, but rather the locations of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers surrounding the iPhone's location, which can be more than one hundred miles away from the iPhone. We plan to cease backing up this cache in a software update coming soon (see Software Update section below).

    5. Can Apple locate me based on my geo-tagged Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data?

    No. This data is sent to Apple in an anonymous and encrypted form. Apple cannot identify the source of this data.

    6. People have identified up to a year's worth of location data being stored on the iPhone. Why does my iPhone need so much data in order to assist it in finding my location today?

    This data is not the iPhone's location data—it is a subset (cache) of the crowd-sourced Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower database which is downloaded from Apple into the iPhone to assist the iPhone in rapidly and accurately calculating location. The reason the iPhone stores so much data is a bug we uncovered and plan to fix shortly (see Software Update section below). We don't think the iPhone needs to store more than seven days of this data.

    7. When I turn off Location Services, why does my iPhone sometimes continue updating its Wi-Fi and cell tower data from Apple's crowd-sourced database?

    It shouldn't. This is a bug, which we plan to fix shortly (see Software Update section below).

    8. What other location data is Apple collecting from the iPhone besides crowd-sourced Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data?

    Apple is now collecting anonymous traffic data to build a crowd-sourced traffic database with the goal of providing iPhone users an improved traffic service in the next couple of years.

    9. Does Apple currently provide any data collected from iPhones to third parties?

    We provide anonymous crash logs from users that have opted in to third-party developers to help them debug their apps. Our iAds advertising system can use location as a factor in targeting ads. Location is not shared with any third party or ad unless the user explicitly approves giving the current location to the current ad (for example, to request the ad locate the Target store nearest them).

    10. Does Apple believe that personal information security and privacy are important?

    Yes, we strongly do. For example, iPhone was the first to ask users to give their permission for each and every app that wanted to use location. Apple will continue to be one of the leaders in strengthening personal information security and privacy.

Software Update

    Sometime in the next few weeks Apple will release a free iOS software update that:

    • reduces the size of the crowd-sourced Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower database cached on the iPhone,

    • ceases backing up this cache, and

    • deletes this cache entirely when Location Services is turned off.

    In the next major iOS software release the cache will also be encrypted on the iPhone.