It's simple, you switch of location services and it then stops.

Actually, at present, it doesn't. That is one of the faults that Apple have promised to address with a software update.

a nicely dishonest disinterested interpretation of what actually happens.

I've corrected that for you.

What part of the interpretation is dishonest? By default:

Is data sent from the PC to Apple?

Is data stored on the PC and phone unencrypted?

Does that data provide a track of places where a user has been, and times they were there?

Is that data potentially accessible to third parties?

And, most importantly, have Apple accepted that there are current problems which they have promised to address with a software update?

In reply to a post by AEP:

It's simple, you switch of location services and it then stops.

Actually, at present, it doesn't.

Wrong.

It stops the location services, the bug is that it doesn't delete historic data.

In reply to a post by AEP:

Is data sent from the PC to Apple?

Depends what you mean by data- it anonymously reports the geo-tag of any base station that it can pick up, that's all. As the documentation says, that could be 100 miles away.

Is data stored on the PC and phone unencrypted?

Yes. So?

Does that data provide a track of places where a user has been, and times they were there?

No, it stores a list, not a track. If you visit a location twice, the second visit over-writes the first.

Is that data potentially accessible to third parties?

Only if you give them the phone.

And, most importantly, have Apple accepted that there are current problems which they have promised to address with a software update?

Problems? No. Merely something that could have been done differently.

The data is still collected and stored on the phone in an unencrypted format. Should the phone fall into the wrong hands that data would be clearly available to a third party.

Should the phone fall into the wrong hands ...

...you will have much more significant things to worry about than a not very useful, accurate or even up-to-date list.

Or you could, you know, remote wipe the phone...

Although, of course, there are several well documented cases of users recovering stolen phones by using the ability to locate it.

If you don't want your trolling pointed out the simple solution is to stop trolling.

In reply to a post by AEP:

Should the phone fall into the wrong hands that data would be clearly available to a third party.

Should my phone fall into the wrong hands I'd be a damned sight more concerned about them having access to my contacts list, texts/emails I've sent/received and using the bandwidth/calls that I've paid for rather than an unsorted and not very accurate list of places I may (or may not) have visited.

The data in the database file is NOT sent to Apple. That file is a cache of data received. Hence why it contains data for places you have never been. I've never been to London with my iPhone ever.

The data which is transmitted to Apple is not stored anywhere.

That's fair enough. But different people have different concerns. Some are concerned about the amount of data that is collected about their location by various means.

I'd have no concerns about my contacts list falling into the hands of a third party, or even e-mails that I have sent and received. I wouldn't keep any data on a mobile device that was, to my mind, sensitive. And I'd rather that other peole didn't store such data on any mobile device that I might use.

The data received from Apple is not accurate, in many cases it can only pin point you to within 100 miles. Hardly of use to any law enforcers or the wife.