iPhone location debate heats up

Those who were hoping that the fuss over the iPhone location logging report would be short lived got some bad news on Monday.

First, there was word that Apple's head honcho is officially speaking out on the matter. In response to an email inquiry from an iPhone owner, Steve Jobs not only denied that the company tracks its users, but accused Google of tracking users with the Android platform.

"Oh yes they do," Jobs said of Google. "We don't track anyone. The info circulating around is false."

Perhaps Jobs was just saying that Google records the same location data that Apple does, and that neither company actually tracks users. Or perhaps he was accusing Google of using data in a way that Apple does not. It's a safe bet that Jobs left the message vague on purpose so that people would wonder just that.

Either way, this is unlikely to be the last we have heard on the matter. US Senator Al Franken (yes, the former comedian) is seeking to call executives from Apple and Google in front of a government committee to testify on the matter of mobile phone security and privacy.

The hearing is scheduled for 10 May at 10am (1500 GMT) and should be mandatory viewing for those interested in mobile security, privacy and user rights.