The authors of the research tell us that if Apple wanted to upload the file they could. That there is no evidence that they are doing this is besides the point.
It's
exactly the point.
To leave your identity to the tender mercies of stangers, assumes that no one, anywhere, at any time has
ever abused this ability. I find this kind of thinking hard to swallow. If something can be abused then it will be abused and that is EXACTLY the point.*
And that a stranger can take possesion of your phone or computer, and then have full access to the information I find incredible. All without the users permission.
Just think what could happen if they took possession of your wallet!
Taking my wallet is a very bad thing. In your convuluted reasoning, because one bad thing could happen, it reduces this matter to a triviality.
At least when someone steals my wallet, I KNOW it's been stolen. In this case, we will know nothing (except for you of course, my bad).
And this unencrypted file, according to those who know more than you, is a walking breathing menace to all of our privacy...
An unencrypted file stored in iPhones and iPads constantly records a user's location data. An open source application was used to plot the location data from an iPhone belonging to a Wired.com reporter.
Update 4 p.m. PT, Thursday: Wired.com has obtained a letter from Apple explaining how and why iOS devices store geo data and transmit it to Apple.
Your iPhone or 3G-equipped iPad has been secretly recording your location for the past 10 months.
Wired.com can confirm that fact: The screengrab above shows a map containing drop pins of everywhere yours truly has been in the past year.
Software hackers Peter Warden and Alasdair Allen discovered an unencrypted file inside Apple’s iOS 4 software, storing a long list of locations accompanied with time stamps. The file is labeled “consolidated.db.”
Sharon Nissim, consumer privacy counsel of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said it is possible Apple is violating the Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act, which allows telecom carriers to provide call information only in emergency situations.
“By asking for permission to collect location data, Apple may be trying to get around its legal obligations, by asking people to give up privacy rights they don’t even know they have,” Nissim said.
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/04/iphone-tracks/ 
