Apple Adds the Missing Applications to the iPod Touch
A while ago, I wrote about missing applications on the iPod touch. Specifically, I wondered why the email, notes, map, and stock applications were missing. Apple has now added them via a software update. This is good; however, there are two possible flies in the ointment.
First, Apple is
charging
$20 for the update. Presumably, they’re charging because they’re
adding new features; however, those features should have been there
in the first place.
The second issue is more subtle and concerns the WiFi-based geolocation
service on the new iPod Touch, which apparently uses technology
developed by
Skyhook Wireless.
Skyhook Wireless has built up a database mapping the location of
WiFi access points to locations. When you initiate a location query,
the iPod Touch (and the iPhone) listen for access points and send the list
to Skyhook Wireless; it replies with your approximate location.
The question is what else happens to that data.
Skyhook Wireless has a pretty good
privacy
policy. However, they inherently know your IP address, at least
at some point — they couldn’t talk to you over the Internet
without that — and IP addresses are sometimes (rightly) considered
to be
personal
information. On the other hand, exactly how Skyhook Wireless treats
the IP address is a bit confusing:
The question is what else can be done with your location data. The usual
geotargeted advertising is permitted:
All that said, the new features make the iPod Touch very attractive.
I’m still waiting to see what the terms and conditions are for the
software development key — but my iPod Nano is showing its age and
may need replacing…
WPS may, if configured by the end-user application,
also identify the Internet Protocol or IP address (a unique identifier
assigned to any device accessing the Internet) of your computer.
The identification of your IP address is a standard, commonly
accepted practice used by a majority of the websites and services
on the Internet.
I don’t know what it means to "identify" an IP address. The web page does
note that if the access points within reach are not in their database,
ordinary IP geolocation techniques — based on your IP address —
may be used instead.
Skyhook may also use this information to deliver targeted, location-based
advertising or to aggregate data about general usage (e.g., there are X
number of WPS users in the 12345 zip code) to potential advertisers.
Furthermore, the data is accessible to law enforcement: "Skyhook may
disclose location information if required to do so by law or in the good
faith belief that such action is necessary to (a) conform to a legal order
or comply with legal process served on Skyhook". But what is the legal
standard for such court orders? It strikes me as likely that it would be
treated as information voluntarily disclosed to a third party —
Skyhook — and hence not within a subject’s expectation of privacy.
This is unfortunate, since most people will have no idea what, if
anything, is being
transmitted or to whom (Apple’s web site sure doesn’t say), and a popular
technology people are familiar with (GPS) is purely passive.
