Apple has released iOS 4.3.3, the update that changes how iPhone and 3G iPad devices store and back up the location based tracking database cache. The update couldn’t come soon enough as Apple received a ton of criticism when two data researchers publicly announced their discovery of the location database cache stored on certain Apple products.
Apple responded to the criticism by answering questions and concerns that consumers and politicians had. Apple said that they are not tracking user and the data does not transmit back to Apple. The reason why the devices were tracking location was to use the cell tower and WiFi hotspot information to determine your location when using GPS. Also when Location Services were turned off, it was still tracking which they said was bug.
The iOS 4.3.3 update is second half of Apple’s response. When users go to update their software it tells users, this update contains changes to the iOS crowd-sourced location database including:
• Reducing the size of the cache
• No longer backing the cache up to iTunes
• Deleting the cache entirely when Location Services is turned off
The update is now available for download by connecting devices to iTunes