Through this past month, Senator Al Franken has been face to face with Apple to come to the conclusion whether or not iPhone/iPad software is accurately pinpointing and storing your location.The reference to this piece of software is being known as the Locationgate.

Personal privacy has always been a cornerstone of what makes our country great. Its kind of peculiar that when Bush indoctrinated the Patriot Act back in 2001, people were outraged, calling it a threat to our right as an American citizen - Privacy was threatened - Paranoia set in - Babies Cried. Three years later, Facebook was released and nearly 700 million(and this number probably has increased, I'm sure - but I'm not counting the users that will fall off the map) members around the world have willingly shared every single who-what-where-when detail about themselves. People have been more than fine with the fact that their entire lives now resides online. We did a 180 without even blinking.

"People have a right to know who is getting their information and a right to decide how that information is shared and used," said Senator Franken.

"I still have serious doubts that those rights are being respected in law or in practice."

What difference does this make that there's a technical bread crumb trail left on your phone? If you ever looked at the "Places" tab from your iPhone Photos app, you'll see every single picture you've taken geo-tagged on a Google map - so this is shouldn't be shocking news to learn that our digital Swiss-army knife IS as advanced and innovative as we've been boasting about.

That makes me wonder, well, IF PEOPLE CAN TRACK YOU, THEY'LL FIND YOU - THEN WHAT?! Well, scary loud font, if you're not breaking the law or running from it, you really don't have to worry, do you? When the Patriot Act came out, do you think they're tapping your phone so they can hear you talk for hours about how confused you were about the show Lost?

I mentioned to a fellow colleague, "Well if you're not doing anything illegal, you shouldn't have to worry, right?" He made a good point. "I know my intentions are good, but I don't know the intentions of those who can acquire this data."

I felt this was a legitimate point. This isn't just privacy for the sake of keeping a low profile, but for privacy that each one of us deserves. We certainly need to have a firm grip on technological advancements, considering they tend to evolve quicker than we can keep up. I'm glad people in higher chairs like Senator Franken are trying to steady the course ahead of time by addressing our privacy concerns towards larger communication and technology corporations. Yesterday Senator Al Franken requested from both Apple/Google that their apps distributed via their online marketplace to require "a clear, understandable privacy policy".

How do you feel about this? Do you think is a major breach in privacy or an opportunity to take this information and do some good? Could this help provide Census data for traveling trends? Will there ever be a balance? I would love to hear your feedback on this. Below is a an initial video(one of many) of Senator Al Franken grilling Apple/Google about the technology.

Blogged by Nick Sears - Motion Designer - rVue