WASHINGTON - eTradeWire -- Apple is introducing a new feature which may help prevent ICE and other law enforcement agencies from determining the precise location - such as a street address - of a user by tracking his cell phone, reports public interest law professor John Banzhaf, a former security officer and consultant who studies and writes about computers, security and data privacy, and immigration enforcement activities.

This new feature, once turned on, restricts cell phone carriers to determining only a broader area location - such as a general neighborhood rather than a precise street address - where a cell phone is now or has been in the past.

It is aimed at making it more difficult for law enforcement (including agencies like ICE) - as well as hackers, spies, or data hungry third parties - to access precise location details through cell providers.

If the cell phone carrier is not able to obtain the precise location of a user's phone in the first place, it cannot share it with law enforcement, voluntarily or even in response to a subpoena, Banzhaf points out.

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Fortunately this new feature does not affect location precision for emergency services when users call 911.

It also does not affect location information collected by apps if the user has included this permission for each specific app.  If additional privacy is required, users can deny permission for apps to access location information, or permit it only while the app is in use, suggests Banzhaf.

It appears that precise cell phone location data is in fact now being used by ICE for immigration enforcement purposes, often through tools that gather and analyze data from various sources including mobile apps, data brokers, and potentially carrier records (which would be affected by this new feature).

For example, ICE can use surveillance software like Webloc and Tangles, which enable tracking of phone locations across entire neighborhoods without the need to obtain a warrant.  Other tools, such as Locate X, allow ICE to monitor the movements of a cell phone through specific areas, and also trace historical paths to pinpoint where the user has been.

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This protection may be especially important in view of reports that ICE, and perhaps also other federal agents, may take action against people it thinks might be hindering immigration enforcement activities by - perhaps among other means - revoking their TSA Precheck status which many people use at airports.
ICE Using Facial Rec; How to Prove Your Status (http://prsync.com/george-washington-university/ice-using-facial-rec-how-to-prove-your-status--should-always-have-your-passport-but-dont-carry-it-5123986/)

This website provides information about this new feature, and instructions for turning it on:
Apple Adding Major Privacy Improvement to Next OS Update—Here's How To Enable It (https://www.newsweek.com/apple-adding-major-privacy-improvement-11454173)

http://banzhaf.net/ jbanzhaf3ATgmail.com @profbanzhaf