Minnesota Senator Al Franken and the attorney full general of Illinois have on an individual basis entreat Apple and Google to provide more information about the location data they amass about their end users .
The request from Franken and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan play along recent reports that Google and Apple have been gather data about the location of Android and iPhone users without their license . While both companies enquire permit before amass the location data required for certain applications , the reports , starting with one in the Wall Street Journal , show the companies also roll up location information when not postulate to do so by an coating .
Madigansaid she has asked the companiesto explicate what information they store , for how long and what it ’s used for . “ I want to roll in the hay whether consumers have been informed of what is being tag and stored by Apple and Google and whether those trailing and warehousing features can be disabled , ” she said in a statement .
Franken on Monday require representative from Google and Apple toattend a hearing on May 10about protecting roving privacy .
The lawmakers are n’t the only ones concerned about the datum collection . Two consumers file away a suit in Florida on Friday that charge Apple with fraud over the alleged data collection . South Korea and some countries in Europe have alsoreportedly launch investigations .
In addition , Congressman Edward Markey , a Democrat from Massachusetts , said hewroteto Apple ’s chief operating officer last calendar week with interrogation about the company ’s data collection practices .
Apple has not commented on the matter and did not respond to a asking for comment for this story .
Google says it does not take in positioning information without user permission .
“ All location sharing on Android is opt - in by the user , ” the company allege in a statement . “ We leave users with bill and controller over the collection , communion and use of localization for provide a better mobile experience on Android devices . Any fix data that is sent back to Google location servers is anonymized and is not tied or traceable to a specific user . ”
