As these two companies fight for control of the mobile computing, they have increasingly used their customers phones as sensors, collected data to close nearby cell towers and Wi-Fi hotspots.
Google and Apple may use this data, the accuracy of everything on the phone to improve the situation used. Contains the maps and navigation services, but also advertising target, people in a particular place - a potentially large company that is always just out of the ground. In fact, the information become so valuable that the companies are ready, you push on the envelope been privacy to pick up.
"Google sees a world where even a small company can promote products to consumers in the vicinity on a mobile device," said Alistair Goodman, Chief Executive of Placecast, a location based advertising company here. "This is a massive market."
The companies use the cell data Tower and hot-spot, maps of the world build, cards that help smartphones quickly to identify their locations. With the signals as navigation beacons is in places where GPS satellite signals, such as urban areas or somewhere inside are especially useful.
Shifting loyalties and legal battles in the world of the directory services recommend heat up competition in this market.
Apple was initially based on the technology from Skyhook Wireless, a company, which was a pioneer in the technique of with Wi-Fi hotspots for location. But last year started his own data collecting. And end last year, Skyhook sued Google, charging that Google copied its technology and Motorola to break contracts with Skyhook and take advantage of Google's competing service had convinced.
Google and Apple have said that they anonymously collect information and use it, their databases of Wi-Fi hot spots keep up to date, not to keep track of individuals. But because sensitive information is a person, the location, the practices have raised privacy fears.
The use of it by the companies has been under control since last week, when two technology researchers, reported that a file on many iPhones and iPads keeps track all sites visited by a user. The file is not encrypted and is copied, personal computer to the people when they synchronize their devices.
The report prompted legislators in the United States, Apple for statements on issues. She said several European Governments would open investigations into Apple's practices. On Monday sued two customers Apple accuse it of privacy invasion and computer was. They claim the company is secretly record and store position and movement of the iPhone and iPad users.
End of last week, Google agreed to it information close nearby networks of Android users, collected, although it said, that it was tracking not individuals and that it allows users to refuse to participate.
Lisa Madigan, Attorney General of Illinois, said Google and Apple data collection practices on Monday to explain them, their location.
Apple has refused to comment on the issue.
On Monday, the site MacRumors published an E-mail from Steven p. jobs, Apple's co-founder and Executive of Chief, where he on a person, who said was that he said planned switch phone on a Google Android, because Google not tracked him to be. The response said: "Oh yes, they do." We are not anyone. "The info floating around to is wrong."
Apple rejected it, which confirm the authenticity of the E-mail.
Some security experts said they believed Apple not track people was, but rather data collection can update its location databases, because Wi-Fi networks quickly come and go. A letter from Apple in July to two members of Congress, Edward j. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts and Joe L. Barton, Republican of Texas, seems to confirm this and offers detailed description of the technology.
In the letter, Apple said it collects anonymous location data and only if consumers agree the location using system services based such as cards, or any apps, the questions, for the position of the user, and for its advertising, iAds. The company said it started, citing its own databases of site information in 2010. Explain their need to collect data of their customers phones, Apple wrote "These databases continuously need to be updated.",
Security experts said they believed that the file location was data on iPhones and iPads intended as a "cache", that it would help determine his location faster and that it could help Apple feed huge database of network locations. But they said that Apple would have to be more diligent to encrypt the file and delete old data.
"I know not why she wants all to keep the data on the device," said Mark silk, a security consultant information in Silicon Valley.
Began Skyhook Wi-Fi hotspots by collecting data about send a fleet of more than 500 cars to drive around the streets of every major city in the United States, Europe and other Asian countries.
"We ran the world," said Ted Morgan, Skyhook's Chief Executive. The company updates the database, by he determined his cars remap areas and phones as sensors with, when a user requests data location.
Google, which started the photos for its service StreetView this data to Wi-Fi hotspots with the same fleet of vehicles, raised, said that it it not so last year after it was found that E-mails and other data gathered by hot spots streamed. It collects information on customers phones now much of this data and traffic.
Market could a 2.5 billion dollars by 2015, according to frost & Sullivan, mobile advertising and display in a location bound are much more profitable than other map. But Mr Morgan said, valuable could be the location data in areas of the Internet and mobile phones.
For example, a retailer could, the eight stores in the city pattern has to information about walk to determine, where the next output open use.
Mr Morgan said "You insight into human behavior have in fact, we have never before had".
Jenna Wortham contributed reporting from New York.
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