TRACKING

Apple to Adjust Location Services

iPhone update coming in weeks.

Apple has offered an explanation for the iPhone’s location information-gathering practices, which can store user data for several months. According to Apple, the company keeps a database of cell towers and Wi-Fi hot spots around users’ locations, and the phone uses this database to calculate its location. Apple keeps a cache of the database on every phone. But Apple also said that it does not track the iPhones and “has no plans to ever do so.” The company plans to release a software update in a few weeks which will reduce the size of the database on the phone, and delete it entirely when the user turns off location services. Apple also announced that the white iPhone 4 will be released on Thursday.