Report: Apple, Google collecting location data on users



As Apple faces scrutiny over the collection of location data from users of its iPhones and iPads, the Wall Street Journal reports that Android smartphones snag the same data and send it to Google.
Citing research from security analyst Samy Kamkar, using an HTC Android phone, the report says the device grabbed location info and sent data to Google multiple times an hour. It also "transmitted the name, location and signal strength of any nearby Wi-Fi networks, as well as a unique phone identifier," the report reads.
Google did not comment on the Journal report.
Meanwhile, as the Associated Press spells out, privacy watchdogs and congressman have reached out to Apple following a report from tech researchers that says iPhones and iPads secretly gather location data.
"Apple needs to safeguard the personal location information of its users to ensure that an iPhone doesn't become an iTrack," says Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., in a statement to the AP.

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