So What. To have a signal your phone must be tracked by the nearest cell tower. Lack of thinking only makes this a problem.

I think there’s a little more to this than tracking which cell tower your phone pings.

I finally got a cell phone last fall. I use it for texting and making/receiving phone calls.

That article is all gobbledygook to me. I know it came with apps but I don't use them and I don't download apps either. Not downloading apps means that I miss out on points for purchases at some stores but I also don't want my purchases being tracked. It's bad enough that my computer pops up ads when I google or purchase something.

Thanks, jrb451, I will delete that app soon. I hardly ever use it anyway. Flashlight is another one I don't use. I guess it's time to do some app weeding. After reading that article, I'm so glad I have an iPhone and not an android one. Please don't tell me how wonderful android is, I don't care.

Yikes, I use Maps, the flashlight, all kinds of apps all the time. I haven't quite broken the habit of having my Android phone at hand at all times.

@blfenton, just because you never use the apps on your phone doesn’t mean they aren’t collecting data from your phone. Go to ”Settings”, then ”App info”, then ”App permissions” to see what information the various apps collect. You might be surprised.

Like everything in life, it's a cost vs. benefit decision.......is the benefit I get from these apps worth the cost of them having my data? Generally: Yes. There really isn't any privacy anymore, and your location could be tracked pretty closely if your cell phone is on, regardless of what apps you have or use (by triangulating cell phone towers). And the fact that an article touting Apple's app appears on the Apple News feed doesn't really inspire me to pay a lot of attention.

The utility I get from my pocket sized computer (that doubles as a phone) is huge, and I am thankful for it. I use it at home, at work, and on vacation - using different apps and tools at different times and locations, of course.

If anyone thinks that not using a smartphone or an app will mean their transactions and whereabouts are not capable of being tracked is naive, unless you never use a credit card, never use a debit card, and never go on line. Oh, and as long as you're never within sight of a traffic or security camera. Essentially, you'd have to be a hermit living off the grid.

I prefer Google's maps to Apple's so I will continue to use them. I do try not to have smart technology in my home, though - or (if I can't avoid it) at the very least I don't sync it up.

And I really don't care if Google knows where I go. .

You probably don't want to know what companies have what "data" on you. Including what can be gleaned from PC and tablet use for those without smartphones.

You can set permissions individually for each app on an Android phone, presumably on an iphone too, to restrict access to onboard files unessential to an app's tasks. Or you can ignore that as tens (probably hundreds) of millions of people do, without any risk or real adverse consequences.

I use maps for the gps when I'm driving. If I don't have that, I'll get lost. LOL It stays.

The thing that came to my mind when I looked at the chart that @jrb451 posted is that the Apple Maps side shows what data is NOT linked to you (the user) while the Google Maps side shows what data IS linked to you (the user), which is sort of like comparing apples (no pun intended) to oranges. What would be more helpful would be a chart showing what is and isn't linked to users for both Apple Maps and Google Maps.

For example, the Google Maps side shows that "Financial Info" is linked to the user, but the Apple Maps side doesn't show that Financial Info isn't linked to the user. Does that mean that it is?

If Google wants to watch my trip to Taco Bell, I really don't care. Maybe I'll get some coupons!

In reality, everything we do is tracked. Every website, every search query, every phone call and text message. Just the reality of living in a digital world, and the only way to avoid it is to unplug completely. Personally I'm not willing to live without these conveniences so I don't let it bother me.

Exactly, Chi. I'm not going to commit any crimes.

They’re different and maybe you should care.

Do you?"

Nope, not in the least. We're probably being tracked in ways we can't imagine. I'm not going to worry myself about this latest information. I don't do things that are that interesting that I care if anyone knows.

The "privacy" ship set sail a long time ago. I don't want anyone to steal my money, or my health data, or my photos. But as for my general location, buying or browsing history -- I'm content to be one little itty-bitty un-interesting data point in amongst a gazillion others.

I don't have an iPhone and never will. The article asks, "Whom do you trust?" Well, I certainly do not trust Apple and have always found Apple products to be annoying. Apple is so concerned that you use only Apple products and for me they are often inferior. They are better for some things but not for everything, and I prefer to have more choices than what Apple offers or wants you to have. It bothers me that Apple wants people to use Google products less.

When it comes to maps and driving, we have a lot of problems in Palm Springs, possibly because of the mountains, but we lose GPS there all the time, and we are not the only ones. Google Maps also does not work in the national parks, like Joshua Tree and Death Valley, and Death Valley is one place that it would be really useful. However, Garmin maps works in these places, as it uses satellites, and I believe Google Maps uses cell phone towers. Kevin has Garmin installed in his truck, and so we use this when we visit Death Valley. We've gotten somewhat lost in DV more than once, but that was before we had Garmin. Garmin does not have traffic info, but that is irrelevant in DV.

Elmer: ”You probably don't want to know what companies have what "data" on you. Including what can be gleaned from PC and tablet use for those without smartphones.”

You’re so right. A couple of years ago I was setting up my new LG phone and read over their privacy policy. It said, I’m paraphrasing here, We collect everything and if you don’t agree, don’t activate your phone. Similar practice for my ISP.

lars (and others), Google Maps has a feature called "Offline maps" that will work ANYWHERE with no need for cell reception. You can even put your phone on Airplane Mode if you want and it will still work fine. Just no traffic data, which, as you say, in a place like Death Valley other places in the boondocks, often doesn't matter. All that's needed for offline maps is a relatively clear view of the sky (same as with a strong cell connection) so that the satellite pings can be received.

To enable it, start Google Maps, touch your photo (or icon) in the upper right had corner, choose Offline Maps, then you'll see a movable and resizable frame to choose the area to have as a local map. After it's downloaded, you can choose to use the local map instead of the online connection and it will work normally.

The preceding describes how it works on an Android phone.

I don't see how the issue of privacy, what's mostly anonymous data, has anything to do with what kind of equipment is being used.

Apple product users seem to need to assert what they think is a superiority differentiation of Apple products over others. Apple products, while they have great automatic interoperability amongst each other, are pretty functionally indistinguishable from other products using other software and other systems.

The tech world is still new, still guided by a lot of technically brilliant geeks who don't always make good decisions the first time. No one should feel exposed or threatened.

"I prefer to have more choices than what Apple offers or wants you to have. It bothers me that Apple wants people to use Google products less."

That's like being bothered that Coke wants you to use Pepsi products less. If anything, it's better than Coke vs. Pepsi: I can use Google apps on my Apple iPhone, and sync that iPhone with my Microsoft laptop running Windows.

"I can use Google apps on my Apple iPhone, and sync that iPhone with my Microsoft laptop running Windows."

Apple products are still less, not more, interoperable with third party products. A friend of mine, a pretty consistent Apple products user, has to maintain a Windows PC to use three very common financial products - Turbo Tax, Quicken, and Quickbooks. One of the three-maybe Turbo Tax - has a Mac version but my friend says it sucks compared to the Windows version. I think two of the others aren't available at all in Mac versions. These are widely used programs, with tens of millions of customers. As far as Apple compatibility with other standard products, well, duh.

Maps are another good example. The iPhone map app has struggled, playing catchup for years and years and (according to iphone users I know) still isn't there yet. They could easily encourage use of the Google Map app to give users a more useful capability but they won't do so.

My immediate thought concerning what lars was talking about when he said "I prefer to have more choices than what Apple offers". is how in the Apple world, there are few user configurable options and no alternative sources of equipment manufacturers (which keeps prices somewhere in check).

As an example of inflexibility, I use Itunes as a "podcaster" or podcast aggregator. In it I choose what podcast series I want to receive regularly and when I trigger an update, it does the download. Itunes has this annoying feature that it periodically unsubscribes me from podcasts I've set up to have downloaded. .

I called Apple support and asked why.

The support guy asked "Do you ever listen to the podcasts on your PC?"

I said "No".

He said "That's one of the most useful features - when you haven't listened to the podcast in (I think he said) 2 weeks, we know you don't want it anymore so we switch the status to "not subscribed".

I said - "No, not at all. I download the podcasts to the PC but then transfer the files to two different portable players that I use to listen to them. In doing that, I never listen on the PC. How can I change the setting so that it doesn't keep unsubscribing me".

He replied- "You can't change that setting, it's made that way to be most useful to our customers"

I got what I should have expected - a BS answer akin to the joke from long ago in the consumer-market software industry - No, that isn't a bug, that's an intentional feature.

WIndows PC and Android device users are accustomed to being able to choose configuration options so that the devices behave as they prefer. I understand that at first pass sometimes for beginner level users, this can provide some difficulties and frustrations but all of it is well documented and can be learned. Apple products often don't offer options.