mr. tribble. >> i asked why they were building a comprehensive location data base on iphones and ipads and storing it on people's computers when they synced up. apple's reply will be added to the record. "we build a crowd source data base of wi-fi hot spots, but they can be over 100 miles away from where you are. those are not telling you anything about your location." yet, in a written statement issued that same week, apple explained that this very same data will, "help your iphone rapidly and accurately calculate its location or as the associated press summarized it, the data help the phone figure out its location, apple said, but steve jobs says those are not telling you anything about your location. mr. tribble, it doesn't appear both statements can be true at the same time. >> senator -- >> with this data -- >> sorry. >> does this data -- i understand, you are anticipating the question, and i'll just ask it and you'll answer. does it indicate anything about your location or doesn't it? >> senator, the data that's stored in the data base is the location of as many wi-fi hot spots and c

mr. tribble? >> senator coburn, if there are four or five things the justice department thinks the congress should consider but most are not particular to mobile devices. the reason they are not all specific to mobile devices is think it's important for the prospective the threats you see in terms of cybercrime is on mobile devices are just new variations on old problems. when someone puts now we're in your computer because the attached to an e-mail that is a threat. if someone uses an android as a does this old school cybercrime with of the technology so what we need to protect the privacy is the same to be able to fight cybercrime generally. that being said, number one, there are a number of further fixes to 10:30 you can be on that contained in the identity theft enforcement restitution act we believe are appropriate and would strengthen penalties and deterrents and make sure there's more significant consequences for cybercrime. we anticipate they will be a part of the cedras security package w

mr. tribbles? >> good morning, chairman franken, ranking member coburn, and members of the subcommittee. i'm bud troubles, software technology for apple. thank you for the opportunity to further explain apple's approach to location privacy. i want to use my time to emphasize a few key points. first, apple's deeply committed to protecting the privacy of all of our customers. we adopted a single comprehensive privacy policy for all products. this policy is available from a link on every page of apple's website. we do not share personally identifiable information with others without the customer's concept and require all third party application developers agree to specific restrictions protecting our customer's privacy. second, apple does not track user's locations. apple has never done so and has no plans to do so. our customers want and expect their mobile devices to quickly and reliably determine their locations for specific activities such as shopping, travel, or finding the nearest restaurant. fr

mr. tribble. >> thank you. my name is alan davidson and i am the director of public policy for a cool in north and south america. thank you for this opportunity to testify. mobile devices are now reduced routinely by tens of millions of americans and creates enormous benefits for our society. those services will not be used and they cannot succeed without consumer trust. uilt.trust must be bille we have made our mobile location services opt in only. google focuses on privacy protection throughout the life cycle of a product, starting with the initial design. this design was discussed at the last panel. we use information where we provide value to our user. we apply the principles of security. we're sensitive when it comes to location information. as a start, all locations sharing for google services is opt in. when i first took might enjoy a phone -- my enjoy the phone -- android phone out of the box -- if the user does not choose to turn it on or dozen going to the settings and later, the phone will not send a

mr. tribble, it doesn't appear to me that both of these statements can be true at the same time. this data -- does this data, i understand you're anticipating my question, so i would just ask and you answer it. does this data indicate anything about your location, or doesn't it? >> senator, the data that is stored in the database is the location of as many wifi hotspots and cell phone towers as we can have. that data does not actually contain in our databases in the customer information at all. it's completely anonymous. it's only about the cell phone towers and the wifi hotspots. however, when a portion of the database is downloaded onto your phone, your phone also knows which hotspot and cell phone, cell phone towers it can receive right now. so the combination of where are those towers and hotspots plus your phone knowing which ones it can receive right now is how the phone figures out where it is without the gps. >> well, right after that the senator asked one of the other witnesses who is a private consultant who worked with "the wall street journal" and is worth the of risk