After an introduction to the topic and a lengthy post about how location can drive better communications, I had planned a few others to cover some of the other types of information that fall into the larger topic as well.  However, I thought it would be worth while to take a short detour this week to cover privacy in the context of location data.  Why?  Well, unless you've turned off TVs, radio, and unplugged from the internet, you've probably heard some of the hubub about Apple capturing detailed location data on iPads and iPhones from the very first time the devices were turned on till today.

If you did miss it, here are some links to get you caught up:

O'Reilly Radar: Got an iPhone or 3G iPad?  Apple is Tracking Your Moves

Wired (multiple posts): Location Data Collection Can't be Turned Off, Why You Should Care, Why and How Location Data is Being Tracked, iPhone Tracking There is a Map for That

Everyone has been covering this and of couse the second round was about Android phones recording location history too.  BlackBerry phones have been trackable for a while, just took enabling it on a BlackBerry Enterprise Server, and accepting it on the phone.  Apparently, secretly tracking our movements is its own industry.

Senator Al Franken has been demanding answers from Steve Jobs and now apparently Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass) is worried about this information becoming a treasure trove for sex predators. 

In fact, it's hard to find any reasonable analysis of the issue at all.  One particularly interesting one points out that the information has been there since the iPhone's first came out.  It's just that this time, it caught the attention of more people and is now of course getting blown out of proportion.  So what are the real issues here?

The reality is that the information on the iPhone's and Android phones both require physical access to devices and only anonymized versions are sent periodically to Apple and Google. Is it really that much worse than someone gaining access to your phone and rifling through call history, text messages, email, and everything else that your other apps store? 

Yes, it would be nice if we had more control over some of the history, but for right now, I'm just fine with the balance between privacy, security, and functionality that my iPhone offers.

Where do you stand on the issue?  When it comes to company issued mobile devices, where is the right place to draw the privacy line?  Comments below!