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Senators want FTC to investigate Google's location data collection
In December of 2017, the office of US Senator Richard Blumenthal sent Google's CEO a letter asking for a detailed explanation of the company's privacy practices around location services. Based on a report at Quartz, the senator's letter had 12 specific questions about how Google deals with location data. In January, Google responded to all of the issues in a lengthy letter signed by Google's VP of public policy, Susan Molinari. Now, apparently unsatisfied with the response, Senators Blumenthal and Edward J. Markey have sent a written request to the FTC to investigate Google's location services, along with "any deceptive acts and practices associated with the product."
Supreme Court considers if your privacy rights include location data
With all the attention focused on the FCC's upcoming vote to dismantle net neutrality protections, it's easy to have missed an upcoming hearing that has the potential to reshape electronic-privacy protection. Today, the Supreme Court is hearing arguments in Carpenter v. United States — and at issue is cellphone-tower location data that law enforcement obtained without a warrant. Defendant Timothy Carpenter, who was convicted as the mastermind behind two years of armed robberies in Michigan and Ohio, has argued that his location data, as gathered by his cellphone service provider, is covered under the Fourth Amendment, which protects citizens against "unreasonable searches and seizures." Thus far, appeals courts have upheld the initial decision that law enforcement didn't need a warrant to acquire this data, so the Supreme Court is now tasked with determining whether this data is deserving of more-rigorous privacy protection.
Android's phone app automatically shows GPS info during 911 calls
A lot can happen during a car accident. Between the initial shock from the impact, airbags going off and general disorientation, when you reach for your phone to call 911 you might not know where you are. Couple all that with cell phones' notoriously flaky ability at transmitting your exact location information to emergency service operators, and getting an ambulance to the scene of your accident can be incredibly difficult. To help sidestep that, Google has updated its Phone app to automatically display your location when making a 911 call.
Google gives up on 'Hands Free' wireless mobile payments
Google has ended its "Hands Free" payment scheme, which let you live the retail dream of paying wirelessly with no need to pull out a card or phone. The program, which ran only in San Francisco's South Bay area, first detects if you're in a participating store using your smartphone's location services. If you say you're "paying with Google," it then completes the transaction over Bluetooth LE or WiFi, with the cashier verifying the purchase using your photo ID.
Twitter taps Foursquare for location-based features
Twitter wants to know where you are. The social media company has tied up with Foursquare so your tweets can carry your precise location. Twitter was already picking up on your whereabouts, but its in-house tagging ability has been restricted to data points from GPS, wireless networks and cellular tower signals. The update allows Twitter to tap in to Foursquare's massive location database so you will be able to pinpoint your exact spot in a tweet.
IFTTT now lets iOS users automate their location
IFTTT (If This Then That) is a handy online service capable of connecting various apps and devices together and running automated tasks (or "recipes") that you'd normally find mundane and time-wasting. It's been around for a couple years and has built up a strong network of different services ranging from social networks like Instagram and Twitter to cloud services like Dropbox and Box.net, and plenty of stuff in between. One thing that's been missing, however, is the ability to automate your location; fortunately, IFTTT is introducing the iOS Location Channel to fill that void (well, for iOS devices anyway). The new channel leverages location information from your GPS, cellular, WiFi or iBeacon data and uses it as a "trigger" -- something that initiates an automated action. For example, you can instruct IFTTT to send a text message to your loved ones as you're arriving at your destination, or get an email when one of your Foursquare friends checks in somewhere near your apartment. If you use a Philips Hue, have it do a crazy light show to announce your upcoming arrival. There are plenty more ideas where those came from, but you'll have to go take a look at IFTTT's full listing of services and come up with a few clever recipes of your own as well.
Apple acquires Canadian location data company Locationary
Apple is looking to beef up its Maps and location services by acquiring location data company Locationary. The Canadian startup uses crowdsourcing to create a database with up-to-date location data and local business information. Apple spokesperson Steve Dowling confirmed the acquisition to AllThingsD and added that "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans." Details on the terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.
Saga lifelogging app captures your every move
WIth the advent of devices like the iPhone that are generally at our fingertips wherever we go, there are a growing number of apps to capture your location over time, essentially creating a log of everywhere you went during every day. Saga (free) is a fairly recent addition to the world of lifelogging, and I've been testing out the app for the past two-plus weeks. If you're the type of person who would like a continuous log of your life without needing to meticulously note every move, Saga may be for you. To begin with, let's get one thing out of the way -- in order to provide this log, Saga uses your iPhone's Location Services all the time. I was initially worried that this would be a huge draw on my iPhone battery, but in reality I barely noticed an impact. Kudos to the Saga development team for figuring out how to minimize battery usage. Saga can be connected to many of your other favorite apps. For the purposes of my review, I connected Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, RunKeeper, Instagram, Fitbit and Withings. TripIt and BodyMedia can also be added. %Gallery-189810% Once you've set up Saga and begun your lifelog, the Location Services arrow will always be on in your iOS status bar. The app has three primary tabs -- Lifelog, Now and Me. Lifelog displays a reverse chronological listing of everywhere you've been as well as input from those other connected apps while you were at a location. For example, my current listing shows that I've been at TUAW Denver Office (aka my home) for 13 hours and 27 minutes, and shows a list of tweets, Facebook posts and my weight (courtesy of Withings). I can confirm that I was at that location -- that's one of the few actions that users need to take. Other information can be edited, notes added or photos added at a location. Tapping "Now" displays where you are at the current time -- hopefully, you already know that -- as well as a total of how many hours you've been running the app. There's a "Snaps" button that, when tapped, gives you an opportunity to take four quickly spaced photos in a photo booth format. Once again, information can be edited, showing that you're either in transit or in reality at another location. In kind of a meta move, you can share your information -- which may include input from those connected services -- on Facebook or Twitter. Finally, there's the Me tab. That's where the settings are, but more importantly where the "infographs" are viewed. What are infographs? Well, Saga takes your personal data and either displays it in graphic format or compares it with an average of all users. For me, this was the least interesting of the tabs, as the infographs really made no sense. A chart of time spent at the top three categories last week? Well, I spent most of my time in my home office, so there's a huge bar showing that I spent about 140 hours at "Home", with a few hours at a movie theater to see Star Trek Into Darkness and some time at the local community college teaching a class. One interesting chart showed the distance I traveled each day last week versus the average, but many of the other charts seemed pointless to me. Do I really care about the typical commute-to-work time when I don't commute to work? It seems that there should be some way to turn off some of the infographs in Saga if they're irrelevant. I found Saga mildly interesting, and to those who are struggling to find a way to capture their every move, it might be the app you're looking for. In the end, I personally decided to remove it from my iPhone and cancel my account. Since I started using Moves (free) as a replacement for a Fitbit Ultra that no longer wants to sync, I pretty much know where I've been and for how long, without the unnecessary fluff of the infographs.
How to turn off Google Now and keep your battery charged
Google has recently added its Google Now service into its search app for iOS, but there's one big drawback to getting constant weather, traffic, and other local information on your phone: Location Services runs constantly. You can tell by the little arrow icon up in the corner of your home screen. Usually, that service only flips on when your phone needs to know where it is, but Google can be greedy with that information, keeping your Location Services on all the time, and thus draining your iPhone's battery much faster than it would otherwise. So what's the solution? Inside Apple's Settings app, you can manually turn off Location Services for each app that uses it, so if you want to keep Google Now from draining your battery you could turn off Location Services altogether. Another approach, suggested by Mac OS X Hints, is to turn off the Now feature within the Google Search app, and only re-enable it when needed. Not the best solution, but it works for sure. Our commenters point out a somewhat less draconic approach to toning down Google Now's location access: in the Privacy settings within the Google Search app, you can disable Location Reporting. With that option turned off, Google Now won't keep track of your location in the background -- it will only check when the app is actually open and in use. This may decrease the utility of the traffic cards, for instance, but it should help battery life. I had the same issue, actually, with Google's Field Trip app. I thought the app worked great, but it definitely drained my battery, and the constant notifications got to be a bit much. The solution I found there was simply to sign out of the app when I didn't want to hear from it, and that's worked all right; it does reduce the spontaneous discovery of nearby attractions that Field Trip tries to deliver, but that's a trade I am willing to make. Ideally, both of these apps would have big on/off switches included, so users could make sure the apps were only active when they were needed. We should note that Google's help document for Google Now suggests that the location reporting feature ought to have minimal impact on battery life, but that isn't necessarily matching up with the real-world experience of users with this first version on iOS. Hopefully, Google will hear some of these complaints, and we'll see the apps work a little less greedily in the future. Post updated to clarify MacOSXHints recommendation. Update: Google has gotten in touch with TUAW to say that these claims of battery draining simply aren't true. The company says they tested the apps thoroughly, and while other apps using Location Services may drain your battery, Google tells us that these apps won't. Whether or not you want to leave these services on, then, is up to you. Here's Google's full statement: Reports that Google Now drains battery life are incorrect. We understand people's concern about seeing the Location Services icon stay on when they use Google Now. Many apps that keep the icon on actually do drain the phone's battery because they require very accurate location. (For example a navigation app has to run your GPS all the time to keep you from missing your turn.) Google Now is built very differently: it uses cell towers and wifi hot spots for much lower battery impact. We extensively tested Google Now on iOS for months and didn't see reports of significant battery impact -- we would encourage you to try it in the Google Search app for a few days and we don't expect you to see significant impact on your battery. If you are seeing a problem, please do tell us (just tap feedback in the app settings). We take user feedback very seriously.
iOS 6: Restoring App-specific privacy permissions
Don't you hate it when an app asks for permission to use photos or location data and you hit the wrong button? In iOS 6, you can bypass this headache and change permissions on an app-by-app basis. Go to Settings > Privacy > Service Type, e.g. Location Services or Contacts, and enable or disable permission for individual apps. You'll find a list of applications that have requested access to each privileged data type. These privacy settings include: Location Services Contacts Calendars Reminders Photos Bluetooth Sharing Twitter, and Facebook Toggle each setting from On to Off or Off to On to match your exact needs. If you messed up in the application itself, this gives you a second (and third, and so forth) chance at ensuring your privacy settings are exactly what you desire.
Facebook for Android refresh, dedicated Places app on the way?
Now that the folks in Palo Alto have finally churned out that long-awaited iPad app, they'll be focusing on other things, we'd surmise. Apparently, high on the to-do list is a refresh of Android's Facebook app. Code-named "Katana," the version 1.8 release candidate (see up top, or the gallery below) shows off updated navigation, menu and search functionality. There's a seemingly standalone "Nearby" application icon present as well -- perhaps a Gowalla-esque Places app mirroring its recent Messenger offering? Keep in mind, nothing is final until ol' Zucks gives his seal of approval, so what you see here is only what the app may look like when it hits the Marketplace. Until it drops, go ahead and pull back that curtain. %Gallery-141105%
Siri gets lost internationally, promises to do better next year
The iPhone 4S' Siri integration may be a potential game changer, but she's not quite the world traveler some of us would like her to be. In fact, it seems she's as lost outside of US borders as any unprepared tourist. Looking for a pub in London? Better find a traditional map. Need to know the time of day in Canada? Siri admits she has no idea, go buy a watch. Business search (via Yelp), directions, and traffic data search all appear to be US-only features for now, and Wolfram Alpha only works in English-speaking countries. The automated assistant's international failings aren't too big of a surprise, however -- Apple's own Siri page outs the service as a beta, noting that some features may vary by area. Stuck with sub-par international support? Sit tight, it's coming: Apple's Siri FAQ states that additional language support (including Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Italian and Spanish), maps and local search content are set to go international in 2012. Update: Wolfram Alpha works outside the US in English speaking countries, thanks to everyone in the comments for the clarification.
Intel to acquire Telmap, dole out easy to implement location APIs to AppUp developers
In case you weren't watching, Intel's Elements 2011 Keynote slipped in a sly acquisition announcement: the firm recently signed a deal to absorb Telmap, an Israel-based outfit whose location platform is the backbone of countless navigation apps. Intel's Peter Biddle says the navigation firm is to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Intel, and will help AppUp developers pack their apps with unique location capabilities via Telmap's standardized APIs. Biddle wraps it up simply enough: "New advanced capabilities with just a few lines of code." Details on the deal are scarce, but hit the source link below to see Biddle's full statement in Intel's AppUp wrap-up.
iPhone 101: Location data and GPS
Update: Look here for official word on the iPhone location data controversy from Apple. Recently, the Apple community has become interested in location data as gathered by iPhones. Specifically, The Guardian has reported that researcher and former Apple employee Pete Wardensome and data visualization scientist Alasdair Allan believe that your iPhone's travel history is backed up to a file on your Mac, eliciting questions and concerns about iOS location services. With that in mind, TUAW offers this brief primer so that you can better understand what's going on under the hood of your iOS device when it comes to location matters. What are location services and how do they work? Location services allow certain apps to determine your iPhone's approximate location and make use of that information. This is done through a combination of cellular network triangulation, Wi-Fi triangulation and the Global Positioning System, or GPS. Here's how it works. Your iPhone will first attempt to communicate with GPS satellites to determine its approximate location. This is a series of medium Earth orbit satellites deployed by the US Department of Defense several years ago. For a more in-depth explanation, look here. When a solid GPS connection is unavailable (the iPhone is indoors, amid many tall trees outside, etc.), the iPhone tries Wi-Fi triangulation. As our own Auntie TUAW recently explained, this works because Wi-Fi hotspots rarely move. Apple has amassed a database of known hotspots and, when your iPhone is connected to one of those, can use them to determine an iPhone's approximate place on the Earth. Of course, this method is less accurate than GPS. Finally, determining location via cellular towers works in a similar fashion. Nearly every cell tower is built in a known, constant location (except for COWs). These fixed positions allow your iPhone to determine an approximate location by triangulating its distance from the nearest towers. Cell towers are less accurate because there are fewer of them than there are Wi-Fi hot spots. Therefore, you're dealing with larger distances. The first time an app tries to access location data, it asks for permission. A dialog box asks to use your current location. If you're OK with that, tap Allow. Otherwise, tapping Don't Allow prevents the app from accessing your location data until you turn it back on as described below.
TekTrak phone locator offers two-use free version
Just because Apple released a Find My iPhone app and then made it free, doesn't mean there isn't room for a little friendly competition. TekTrak originally took on Apple's built-in iPhone location service by offering TekTrak Pro at a one-time US$4.99 price point as opposed to Mobile Me's $99 annual fee. Now that Apple made it free to iOS 4.2 users on iPhone 4, iPad and fourth-gen iPod touches, TekTrak is answering back with a free version that allows two uses for locating your phone, plus additional uses for inviting friends. This week, TekTrak launched a new free app to let anyone with a iPhone 4 or 3GS find their phone, track its previous locations and remote ring the phone from any web browser.
Skyhook: Google forced Motorola to drop our location service, delay the Droid X
We figured Skyhook's business interference and patent infringement lawsuits against Google would turn up some dirt, and we didn't have long to wait: the location-services company's complaint flatly alleges that Google's Andy Rubin ordered Motorola's Sanjay Jha to "stop ship" on the Droid X because it used Skyhook's XPS positioning system instead of Google Location Services, a tiff that ultimately delayed the phone's release while Moto reworked the software and dropped Skyhook entirely. Following that, Skyhook claims that Google then went after an unidentified "Company X" (likely Samsung) and forced it to drop XPS as well -- which would certainly explain why Samsung's Galaxy S phones have WiFi positioning turned off by default, unlike every other Android phone. Ouch. If you're thinking that makes no sense because Android is "open," well, you might have another think coming -- Skyhook claims that Google's decisions to allow access to Android Market and its branded apps are an entirely subjective ruse based on something called the Compliance Definition Document, which can be "arbitrarily" interpreted any way Google wants with no recourse. Skyhook says that Google has now told Android OEMs that they're required to use Google Location Services, preventing Skyhook from fulfilling its contracts and costing the company millions in expected royalties. Now, this is Skyhook's side of the story and we're sure Google will make a persuasive argument of its own, but let's just back up for a moment here and point out the obvious: Google's never, ever come out and clearly said what's required for devices to gain access to Android Market and the branded apps like Gmail -- even though we've been directly asking about those requirements since Android first launched. Remember when Andy Rubin told us that there would be full-fledged "Google Experience" phones with no carrier or handset manufacturer limitations? Or when we were told that phones with skins like HTC Sense or additional features like Exchange integration wouldn't have Google branding? And then all of that turned out to be a lie? Yes, Android might be "open" in the sense that the source code is available, but there's no doubt Google's wielded incredible power over the platform by restricting access to Market and its own apps -- power that hasn't been used to prevent carrier-mandated bloatware or poorly-done manufacturer skinning, but has instead apparently been used to block legitimate competitors like Skyhook from doing business. We're dying to hear Google's side of this story and fill in some of the gaps -- and you can bet we're digging as hard as we can for more info. Stay tuned, kids.
Verizon patents system for location-aware classifieds
It's not often that we genuinely like what these big corporations are doing, so you'd better pay close attention here. We've caught wind of a Verizon patent covering the logistics of setting up and running a GPS-based classifieds service, which matches potential buyers and sellers of goods on the basis of their stated interests and location. Thus, next time you're driving by the home of a carpenter, for example, you might be alerted of his contact details should you need some woodworking done. This seems like a legitimately useful expansion on the location services already available on GPS devices, but -- as with the Nokia flexible display patent -- the application was filed back in 2008 indicating that nothing is imminent. Still, at least it's comforting to know that good ideas can fleet by carriers' brain trusts when they're not too busy talking trash about each other on TV. [Thanks, Anand]
Google Latitude coming to other devices, iPhone included
T-Mobile's decision to bundle Google's Latitude location-tracking service into the RC33 G1 update may have gotten all the attention this morning, but if you've got a BlackBerry, Window Mobile or S60 device, you can start oversharing right away -- Latitude is built into the newest version of the Google Maps app. Not only that, but it looks like iPhone owners will be able to get in on the fun soon -- Google says it's working on a Latitude app that will "hopefully" be available shortly. We're guessing that means El Goog is tied up in App Store approval shenanigans -- it's certainly been naughty before -- but what we're really wondering is if the next rev of Apple's Maps app will include Latitude, since it's basically just a really nice Gmaps implementation. We're guessing the developers of Loopt and Whrrl are equally eager to find out -- "duplication of functionality," anyone?
Broadcom dips its chips in Skyhook WiFi positioning tech
Skyhook's WiFi positioning service hasn't really appeared in many devices despite its high-profile usage in the iPhone, but now it looks like it's set to become downright ubiquitous -- Broadcom is planning on building it directly into its extremely popular WiFi chipsets. Just like Skyhook's deal with SiRF, the idea is to use WiFi positioning to supplement GPS in mobile devices, allowing location-based services to function indoors and in densely-built cities where GPS doesn't always work well. No word on when we might see any devices with Skyhook-enabled chips in them, but given Broadcom's reach in the market, we'd guess it won't be too long.
