It's an open network. The guest should be responsible for securing his traffic with end-to-end encryption with SSL or SSH if he/she is worried about disclosure.

An easier solution would be for a WiFi access point to offer two networks: an open one and a secured one. The owner/operator of the AP could use the encrypted network, and enable the open network for public use.

The open network could also have a lower priority than the encrypted one, be subject to bandwidth restrictions, and limited to certain times of the day.

I'm not saying that any of this is a good idea. I just think there's no need for a new protocol.

Not unless the tracking information says that the spot is 3 feet directly in front of you.

It doesn't. The iPhone cache simply says: I last heard this transmitter at this time. The location is retrieved from elsewhere.

The local cache doesn't say anything about where you were in relationship to that transmitter.

So that it doesn't have to ask for it again, repeatedly. It's a network optimization.

I agree there's no reason to keep the location of a tower your phone heard 8 months ago, and that's where I think Apple messed up. Google's methodology of limiting the size of the cache to the newest 50 cell towers and 200 WiFi APs is a better solution, although I can think of a case where the WiFi cache needs to be bigger.

Microsoft claims their phone isn't caching the transmitter locations at all. I think that's the worst of all possibilities, because that means that the phone is querying their server every time (and with a random, but unique ID). They also admit to retaining it for an unspecified period of time. That basically puts more than the information currently on the iPhone in Microsoft's server, completely out of your control.

30 seconds is a long time for people that are using an app that needs location services, and aren't aware of the limitations. And you're right: a single network request is enough, but Apple uses/maintains their own location database (as does Google and Microsoft). However, it requires network access, which may not work at the moment -- and the cache will probably have enough information to approximate the phone's position.

There's one location service that you WANT to work under the worst conditions: 911. However, I'm not sure if the "enhanced 911" required for the cell phone companies uses the phone's GPS or if they rely on their own system that is independent of the phone.

It's Assisted GPS. The WiFi and cell tower transmitter location data is used to assist the GPS.

From a cold start, GPS takes a long time and a lot of power to determine an accurate position. If the GPS knows approximately where it is (and what time it is), it knows what satellites are above the horizon and can "lock" much faster than if it has to figure it out on its own.

The assistance for GPS is necessary for it to work as you expect: turn on Google Maps (or any other app that uses the location services), and it determines your position within a few seconds.

The cache is nothing but an optimization: if the phone didn't keep it, it would have to query Apple's online database every time location services were requested to get the positions of the transmitters the phone can hear. That would increase the time to solution, and use more of your monthly allotment of data.

I had the same problem. I sent them a certified letter, noting exactly what you said: since I wasn't the debtor, I couldn't demand they stop calling me under the Fair Debut Collection Practices Act

But, if they continued to contact me after being informed that I wasn't their target and didn't know their target, I would consider it harassment. I cited the specific state law that described the offense of harassment. And I stated flatly that the next time they called me, I would be calling the police in their jurisdiction and filing a complaint.

I also sent copies of my letter to the Attorney General's office in my state and in their state.

I never heard from them again, and the case was never sold to anyone else, either.

Yes! I think it's just a cache of WiFi access points and cell base stations that were "heard" by the iPhone at some point. The phone got the location from an on-line database and stored the data for future use.

Mine has a location next to UC Berkelely. But, that's the only out-of-the-ordinary location I found. I suspect that the database was seeded with it.

I believe you are correct: known locations of cell towers and WiFi access points -- depending on which table you look at.

I posted a longer explanation above. But, you are the first posting I've found that seems to be on the right track.

I managed to find the data on my Windows laptop, thanks to a suggestion from another poster. By searching for the string "WifiLocation", I was able to identify the SQLite database that contains the data. That DB also has a CellLocation table.

The WifiLocation table has a entry for every MAC address, presumably of the WiFi access point that it found. And there's also a timestamp, latitude, and longitude. The timestamps are bunched, so I'm not sure how accurate it may be.

I already had a script that built a Google map with markers at designated points (by lat/long). I modified that to dump the contents of either the cell or wifi location tables. Both provide a map of where I've been in the past year or so. The cell location map is actually a better representation, although it has fewer data points. I presume it's because the iPhone only logs WiFi access points when it tries to use the WiFi location-assist. By filtering the WiFi datapoints to ones that were only at least 1 mile from the others, I reduced about 15,000 rows to about 400 rows.

Here's the interesting part: it's logging both cell phone tower locations and WiFi locations that are NEAR where I have been, but up to a block or two away (in the case of Wifi) or several miles (in the case of cell towers). I suspect that the iPhone is not recording YOUR location, but is instead recording the known location of the MAC or cell phone tower. Where would it get this? In the past, Apple used Skyhook wireless to derive location from WiFi MAC addresses. I don't know if they still use it.

I suspect that this SQLite database is nothing more than a localized cache, to be used for assisted GPS. When you first launch the Google Maps app, you'll notice it start with an accuracy radius that is about the size of a cell phone tower's footprint. Then the circle gets smaller, as it first uses WiFi to refine the position, and then finally lock on to multiple GPS satellites.

The location of these WiFi access points and cell base stations are in an online database. Apple is probably just storing the location on your phone the first time that you happen to "hear" that particular transmitter, after querying the database over your 'Net connection. Then, the next time your phone needs to use that MAC address or cell station ID to determine your location, it already has it in your local cache.

The WiFi location cache must be seeded with one location: The corner of Berkley Way and Oxford St, on the edge of the UC Berkeley campus. I've never been there, but it's in my WifiLocation table.

If one has a Mac. I can't read the interesting parts of the downloaded package, so I tried to back-track to the referenced Python script. It looks like similar data is stored on Windows in \Documents and Settings\User\Application Data\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup, but the filenames have different suffixes and aren't in the same format.

I'm expecting one from Walgreen's and Marriott soon.

We were recently notified by Epsilon, an industry-leading provider of email marketing services, that an unauthorized individual accessed files that included some of our client and consumer information. Epsilon sends marketing and service emails on our behalf but does not have access to sensitive client data such as social security numbers. They have assured us that only names and email addresses were obtained. We take your privacy very seriously and want you to be aware of this.

Please remember, Ameriprise will never ask you for personal or account information through email. If you receive an email that appears to be from Ameriprise asking for personal or financial information, do not respond. Instead, please immediately forward the email to us at: anti.fraud@ampf.com.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056197/quotes?qt=qt0285056

Your faith in government to responsibly manage nuclear power is misplaced:

Hanford Site