iPhone, Location, Privacy - which one of these is the odd one out?

Apple is the latest to get into the location data mining gold rush - LA Times:

Apple Inc. is now collecting the "precise," "real-time geographic location" of its users' iPhones, iPads and computers.

In an updated version of its privacy policy, the company added a paragraph noting that once users agree, Apple and unspecified "partners and licensees" may collect and store user location data.

And if you don't agree to the new T&C?

When users attempt to download apps or media from the iTunes store, they are prompted to agree to the new terms and conditions. Until they agree, they cannot download anything through the store.

Charming. Nothing like a spot of voluntary opt in via involuntary service cessation. This is but the start, as you can still switch your location tracker off on the iPhone - no doubt over time many functions willl just stop working if you do though.

Apple says the data is anonymous and does not personally identify users, but that's incorrect - as the LA times notes, large specific data sets can be used to identify people based on behavior patterns. Why the move - Advertising, of course:

On Monday, Apple also rolled out its new advertising platform, iAd, for the latest version of its iPhone operating system (iOS 4). The company may well be integrating the location information into its advertising system -- for instance, to help local shops sell coupons to users in the neighborhood.

They are already taking revenue from selling the device and aggregating/selling the content, to take a rake from location and Ad serving is as close to a total end to end value extraction as you can get.

The quid in this pro quo seems to be to give the vendor access to your location data too.

An increasing number of iPhone apps ask users for their location, which is then used by the application or even uploaded to the app's maker. Apps like the Twitter application Tweetie and Google Maps make frequent use of location data, either to help the user get oriented geographically or to associate the user's action with a specific location (as when a tweet is geotagged).

However, owing to the value chain lock-up there certainly won't be much value left for any application content provider (assuming there is any now), so this is not just caveat emptor, its caveat vendor as well.

One of the main points of mobile telephony over the last two decades has been its closeness to the user, and its use as a private device. I await with interest the public reaction to apps that won't work unless iPhone location beacon is turned "on". Maybe is just my view, but over the last decade many location tracking devices have been trialled and failed as people - by and large - do not like to be tracked all the time, or set the expectation that they are alwys trackable.