Flying through the tubes right now is the discovery that iOS devices record very detailed information about the device's location and retain that info in a file backed up to the user's computer when the device is synced.

The terms and conditions users of these devices agree to does state that Apple may collect non-personally-identifiable location information and basically use it however they please, but the problem here is that if this file is easily available on your computer and tagged with your phone's name, it's pretty personally identifiable. The level of detail in these records also would probably be enough to identify someone on its own. Also, who reads the terms and conditions?

The guys who discovered this file have created a little Mac app that lets you see this data on your own computer, and also explains in more detail how and where the info is stored.

So far, it appears that this data is stored on your device and your synced computers only and not transmitted anywhere, but people smarter than me are only just starting to look into all that.

This is only the very beginning of issues like this. The devices we carry around can passively collect unbelievable amounts of information about what we're doing, and the rules and laws about the use of that information isn't even close to keeping up with the technology.

For example! Matt Hickey reports for Cnet that Michigan cops are using "extraction devices" to download info from the cell phones of motorists they pull over. People, mind you, who have not been charged with any crime.