In today’s Quick Hits, we have three interesting articles focused on mobile privacy and the fallout from the news that Apple and Google had location-tracking files in their popular smartphones.

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What Can We Do About Internet Tracking

In a post for his MSNBC blog The Red Tape Chronicles, consumer advocate Bob Sullivan talks about the recent iPhone location tracking story and how companies rarely face any consequences for privacy missteps. Quoting Sullivan: “It’s crazy that we’re walking into a world where companies and governments know where we are, and where we’ve been, without guiding principles to save us from ourselves. Location information should be deleted immediately after it is not needed for the exact purpose it was collected for.” Indeed, without legal protections for consumers, companies will continue to collect and store personal data with little regard for consumers.

Cellphone Companies Defend Privacy Policies

Following the revelation that smartphone devices were storing location data on users, Representatives Joe Barton and Edward Markey sent a letter to the four major wireless carriers asking for a clarification on their privacy policies. According to the Wall Street Journal, “The carriers—AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA—said they seek subscribers’ consent before tracking their location, but said they can’t control how applications developed by third parties use location information that the carriers don’t provide.” The article notes that app developers are not bound by any law regarding how they can use consumer data.

Google Exec Explains Mobile Privacy Position

Along with the story that Apple’s iPhone and iPad devices were keeping location data, Google’s popular Android phones were also implicated in storing user information. In response to the controversy, Google’s director of mobile, Jason Spero, explained Google’s mobile privacy positions during an address at AppNation. According to PCMag.com, Spero said, “Google takes privacy very seriously. We think in a lot of cases we don’t work toward where the line is on the known line of privacy is; we stop well short of it, and make sure that we’re working with the industry to understand what is and what is not fair game, while delivering the best possible user experience. that we can.” Spero added that he doesn’t want “someone knowing where I am every minute of the day,” but that in certain situations, stored location data may be helpful.