AllThingsD » access points

IPhone Stored Location in Test Even if Disabled

Jennifer Valentino-DeVries — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 06:31:45 +0000

Apple Inc.’s iPhone is collecting and storing location information even when location services are turned off, according to a test conducted by The Wall Street Journal.

The location data appears to be collected using cellphone towers and Wi-Fi access points near a user’s phone and doesn’t appear to be transmitted back to Apple. Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Still, the fact that the iPhone is collecting and storing location data—even when location services are turned off–is likely to renew questions about how well users are informed about the data being gathered by their cellphones. The fact that the iPhone stores months’ worth of location data was disclosed by two researchers last week.

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Battling a Wireless Deluge

Cari Tuna — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 13:00:31 +0000

As cellular networks grapple with a deluge of data traffic from smartphones, a growing number of companies are offering to help wireless carriers shift the heavy load to a longtime Internet standby: Wi-Fi.

Suppliers of technology to help offload mobile data include behemoths such as Cisco Systems Inc. and Motorola Solutions Inc. as well as smaller vendors such as Ruckus Wireless Inc. and BelAir Networks Inc., each of which manufactures devices that transmit and receive Wi-Fi signals.

Such devices, called access points, have long been a fixture in homes, coffee shops and companies. But increasingly, wireless carriers and third-party operators are buying heavy-duty variants to form larger Wi-Fi networks, intended to siphon off data traffic in places with big concentrations of smartphone users.

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Microsoft's Economic Stimulus Plan

John Paczkowski — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:40:36 +0000

[ See post to watch video ]

What We Really Need Is a "Stopping Congress From Exploiting For-the-Children Politics" Bill

John Paczkowski — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 23:02:01 +0000

Funny isn’t it? Congress spent most of last year calling for Internet companies to limit user data retention and here it is pushing legislation that would require Internet service providers and the operators of Wi-Fi access points to retain Internet user data for up to two years. Why? To protect children from predators, of course.

Introduced by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, the “Internet Stopping Adults Facilitating the Exploitation of Today’s Youth Act,” or Internet Safety Act, states that “a provider of an electronic communication service or remote computing service shall retain for a period of at least two years all records or other information pertaining to the identity of a user of a temporarily assigned network address the service assigns to that user.”

Sounds a bit broad, doesn’t? And indeed, privacy advocates say that it applies not just to the Wi-Fi access points of Internet service providers, but to those of libraries, schools, businesses and individuals as well.

To mine. And to yours.

An unsettling thought. Said Greg Nojeim, senior counsel at the Center for Democracy & Technology: “[This is] invasive, risky, unnecessary, and likely to be ineffective.”

Perhaps. But it’s for the children. “While the Internet has generated many positive changes in the way we communicate and do business, its limitless nature offers anonymity that has opened the door to criminals looking to harm innocent children,” Sen. Cornyn said Thursday. “Keeping our children safe requires cooperation on the local, state, federal, and family level.”