SAN FRANCISCO: Apple is telling Congress that the iPhone's logging of nearby Wi-Fi hot spots and cell towers is meant to improve service, not stalk customers.
Apple emphasized, as it had previously, that any data that's transmitted back to Apple about the locations of the hot spots and cell towers is anonymous, and not tied to a particular user. Apple is building a database of such information to make location-based services, such as mobile mapping, work faster. Using GPS signals can take several minutes to locate a phone, while using the location of known hot spots and cell towers stored directly on the phone can be quicker.