Microsoft Walks Into Phone Tracking Controversy

Microsoft has now joined Apple and Google in the user-tracking controversy that was revealed last week.

Apple’s iOS 4 updates an onboard database as users move from place to place – and has been doing so since the mobile phone operating system update was installed. Google’s Android only stores the last few dozen locations. Where Microsoft fits into this spectrum is not yet clear but it does keep records in Windows Phone 7.

Government Calls For Explanations

In all cases, it is assumed that this data is transmitted to the phone-issuers and, possibly, to Apple, Microsoft and Google from time to time but how much information is sent, how it used and how long it is retained has yet to be revealed.

The fact that tracking occurs is not what concerns privacy advocates because records are kept by mobile phone networks as a matter of routine for billing purposes. The question is why the OS vendors need to have such detailed records.

The records kept on iPhones have been known, and used in investigations, by the police for some time. Unlike requesting data from the telecoms companies, the information on the phone, especially the iPhone, can be easily accessed. It is even conceivable that phone apps could access the location files.

The UK government has yet to act on the matter but several senators and representatives in the US have demanded explanations from Apple and Google. They will now probably want to hear what Microsoft has to say.

Although privacy groups are concerned about the amount of information that is currently gathered about individuals, it is the fact that this information has been garnered and stored without the express permission of the phone’s owner.

For the US lawmakers, it is worrying that these covert trackers on smartphones can undermine the civil rights of citizens under investigation by the police. Archaic laws concerning search warrants often predate the digital revolution and the issue could escalate into a revision of privacy laws to cover individual rights and access to personal mobile technologies.