The big (not-entirely-new) news last week that Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is keeping tabs on iPhone users' every move elicited indignation in some corners and apathy in others. Consumers seem to widely accept the narrowing of their right to privacy, but some lawmakers, including Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), have demanded that Apple explain itself. For businesses, Apple's location data storage habits are one more reason to rethink consumer-oriented devices in the workplace.

The two sides of the debate are well-illustrated by two columnists at PCMagazine. John C. Dvorak starts from a position of outrage. He points out that the iPhone location information can be found by anyone accessing the phone or the computer to which the data is sent. This is markedly different from standard cell phone location data, which wireless carriers collect--and only disclose if they're ordered to by a court (in theory, anyway).

"There's no real way to prevent the phone from building the database," Dvorak writes. "This is an out-and-out scandal, as far as I'm concerned."

Dan Costa, Dvorak's colleague, is much less concerned. Conceding that it is rather creepy that Apple set up this feature without making it known, Costa suggests that iPhone users encrypt their backup data to hide it from prying eyes. Although Apple needs to explain why it set up this feature, it isn't anything anyone should get too worked up about, he says. To prove it, he shares some details of what looks like kind of a dull lifestyle.

"Personally, I think people take their location a little too seriously. It is no secret that I spend my days at PCMag's New York offices at 28 East 28th Street. I spend most nights in my apartment on Wayne Street in Jersey City. In between, I go other places. When I do, many times I check in via Foursquare and sometimes even share it on Twitter. I just don't frequent that many secret locations these days, so I don't mind telling people where I am," Costa writes.

For more:
- see John C. Dvorak's post at PCMagazine
- see Dan Costa's post at PCMagazine

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