Apple iOS update aims to calm spying concerns

The cache used to store location information has been reduced

Apple has released an iOS update designed to allay concerns that it is storing the location of iPhone users.

Last month, researchers reported that Apple was collating a dataset of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers around an iPhone user's current location.

There has been widespread concern as to how the data, which holds an approximate location of the user's whereabouts, is being used.

The location information was being downloaded as a cache onto each iPhone, and this was then backed up in iTunes whenever the device was synced.

Following intense scrutiny, Apple insisted that this was simply a "bug" and would be fixed in its latest software release.

The iOS 4.3.3 software update, released this week, states the size of the cache will now be reduced (by an unspecified amount), and will no longer be backed up to iTunes.

The cache will also be entirely deleted when the user switches off Location Services in the iPhone's settings.