Companies like Google and Apple have been eager to collect data on the GPS locations of cell towers, wifi access points and other network locations. In fact, th

Companies like Google and Apple have been eager to collect data on the GPS locations of cell towers, wifi access points and other network locations. In fact, there are entire companies (Skyhook http://skyhook.com http://skyhook.com) that drive cars around major cities mapping these things. Why? So that their mobile applications can provide you location even if you don't have GPS. GPS doesn't work inside, GPS doesn't always work in big cities with a ton of buildings. Providing you location without requiring GPS is big money. Unfortunately the cheapest way to gather this data is through crowd-sourcing. By having every iPhone record this data they could, in theory, help provide you location when GPS isn't available. I don't know if that's why Apple is doing this now but I hope someone finds out. I'm all for location based services but using people without their knowledge seems like a bad way to go about it.