Apple’s New Warning For Millions Of iPhone Users after settings on their phones misled users about use of their location
The admission, issued to TechCrunch, follows research published by securty specialist Brian Krebs which reveals Apple’s new iPhone 11 range are seeking information about their location even when users have specifically changed the phone’s privacy settings to stop this from happening.
Something that Krebs notes violates the company’s own privacy policy.
In response, Apple initially dismissed the finding (which Krebs documented in a video, embedded below) as “expected behavior”. But today the company has changed its tune, warning users that the range’s new Ultra wideband chip is behind the background checks:
“Ultra wideband technology is an industry standard tech and is subject to international regulatory requirements that require it to be turned off in certain locations,” said Apple in its statement. “iOS uses Location Services to help determine if an iPhone is in these prohibited locations in order to disable ultra wideband and comply with regulations.”
Apple states that “The management of ultra wideband compliance and its use of location data is done entirely on the device and Apple is not collecting user location data.” Something that initial research backs up.
Having claimed it had to follow international regulatory requirements, the company now says it will enable these background location checks to be disabled in an upcoming iOS update.
A whistleblower revealed they heard clips which included private medical information, drug deals and recordings of couples having sex. Apple subsequently apologised, shut down the centre and promised to give users a privacy setting which would enable them to delete their Siri recordings in a future iOS update.