Earlier this week, security researcher Brian Krebs discovered that the iPhone 11 Pro still collects location data, even when the user has set it not to.
Krebs identified the issue and reported it to Apple. Apple’s response implied that “certain system services” continue to collect location data, even when the user has selected “Never” for all individual apps and services.
Apple told him that there were no concerns and the iPhone was operating as designed. “It is expected behavior that the Location Services icon appears in the status bar when Location Services is enabled. The icon appears for system services that do not have a switch in Settings,” Apple had said.
Apple today provided more information about the situation in a statement to TechCrunch, which explained the the new iPhone models have a U1 ultra wideband chip that uses location data to make sure they’re not in restricted areas.
Apple says there are regions where ultra wideband technology is not allowed because of international regulations, so the iPhone checks the location to make sure it isn’t in one of those areas.
Ultra wideband technology is an industry standard technology and is subject to international regulatory requirements that require it to be turned off in certain locations. iOS uses Location Services to help determine if iPhone is in these prohibited locations in order to disable ultra wideband and comply with regulations.
The management of ultra wideband compliance and its use of location data is done entirely on the device and Apple is not collecting user location data.
Apple says that the location checks are done on device and that no location data is being sent to Apple’s servers.
Apple plans to provide a toggle in the future to turn off the ultra wideband technology and disallow the background location tracking that is happening.
