Apple fires back at China state media allegations of location tracking

Apple’s certainly no stranger to accusations of location tracking, but the latest allegations come from what may be a surprising source: China’s state-sponsored media. As reported by the Wall Street Journal over the weekend, China Central Television called the iPhone a “national security concern,” suggesting that it could even compromise “state secrets” if the device is being used by Chinese state officials. On Monday, Apple responded to the charges. 

At issue is a feature of iOS called “frequent locations”—you can find it squirreled away under Settings > Privacy > Location Services > System Services > Frequent Locations. This feature keeps track of places you go to often, which helps with providing location-specific information. Though it’s enabled if you opt into Location Services, it’s easy enough to turn off—of course, you have to find it first.

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