Apple praised for plan to undermine extensive system that secretly tracks customers

As the political push to curb digital spying remains mired in debate, those who produce the technological wonders of our age are fixing on a more direct response: If you can’t legislate privacy, build it in.

It is against this backdrop that many in the technological community are applauding the decision by Apple to tweak how the iPhone searches for wi-fi connections. Through a relatively simple software update, the company plans to undermine a widely deployed system that stores such as Nordstrom have used to track the movements of customers to analyze shopping habits.

Sen Al Franken (D-MN), who has proposed legislation banning such tracking except when customers explicitly choose to participate, said, “Companies are tracking your movements when you go shopping without your knowledge -- and often when you don’t even enter a store. Apple’s decision to protect their users against this form of tracking is a smart and powerful move for privacy.”