Microsoft Makes It Clear, They Do Not Store Your Location History In Windows Phone 7

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The recent scandal and uproar in the mobile world has been the storing your location history. It seems iOS and to some extent Android, have been storing your location history data on your phone. And while iOS and Android are two major players, another player recently came forward making it clear that they do not store any history.

That other is Microsoft who have offered a bit of detail on what they store and what they do not store. According to a statement received by PCMag, “phones running Windows Phone 7 do not store location history.” Of course, some will immediately wonder how an app such as Find My Phone will work without any location history.

Well, truth be told, Microsoft does store some location data — they kind of need to for a location based app such as Find My Phone to work. As it turns out, Microsoft only stores the most recent location of the phone. Basically, they store one location as opposed to the location history, with history (as in all of the past) being the key word.

That said, if you are looking to use a smartphone you have a few options — either accept the fact that the phone knows quite a bit about you and where you have been or maybe consider a switch to Windows Phone 7. Personally speaking, I am not sure what all the fuss is about, sure there are some privacy issues, but with all the other ways to discover where I have been such as social media check-ins, Twitter and/or Facebook postings and even geotagging of images this is not all that much of a secret anyway.

In addition, Microsoft also reiterated that Windows Phone 7 users can disable all location services with a feature called “global switch.” But then again, when you lose your phone that will work to your disadvantage.