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When I first heard that Apple iPhones were collecting location data on users, I was a little skeptical of the possibility that this was just a mistake. The data, you see, was collected in a .db file, and that’s not really something you’re likely to do by accident. If your intent is to hold just the current location data in memory (and there are plenty of good reasons to do that), you’d just hold it in memory. You wouldn’t create a database structure to do it.

Well, according to the Wall Street Journal, my skepticism was warranted:

Apple Inc.’s iPhones and Google Inc.’s Android smartphones regularly transmit their locations back to Apple and Google, respectively, according to data and documents analyzed by The Wall Street Journal—intensifying concerns over privacy and the widening trade in personal data.

Google and Apple are gathering location information as part of their race to build massive databases capable of pinpointing people’s locations via their cellphones. These databases could help them tap the $2.9 billion market for location-based services—expected to rise to $8.3 billion in 2014, according to research firm Gartner Inc.

Neither Apple nor Google have deigned to comment on this issue. If they actually have an explanation for this, that better change pronto.

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“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please do your part and help us reach our $150,000 membership goal by May 31.

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