At least one country is taking note, and objecting to, Apple’s now well-known data transparency issues, which made a subtle appearance in the software license every user must agree to before installing iOS 4.
https://gizmodo.com/apple-now-storing-and-sharing-your-location-with-others-5569711
That country is Germany, and in remarks made Friday, German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger asked that “users of iPhones and other GPS devices must be aware of what kind of information about them is being collected.”
How would that go about, exectly? Like so:
Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said she expected Apple to “open its databases to German data protection authorities” and clarify what data it was collecting and how long it was saving the data.
That Germany is making such a request (demand?) is not at all surprising, given its history of strict privacy law. It’s a policy that Reuters notes goes all the way back to the end of World War 2 and the nation’s experience with Nazi wiretapping and East German secret police. [Reuters]
