Revelations that both iPhones and Android phones store location data in unencrypted form has caused quite the stir over the last week, but if you were one of those contributing your outrage to the uproar, wait until you hear whatTomTomhas been doing with your GPS data.

In an apparent effort to avoid the PR disaster that’s stricken Apple and Google over this issue, TomTom haspre-emptively released informationabout its sharing of customer location data. The data it collects is most prominently used to help route customers around traffic jams, but it turns out that it’s also sent to law enforcement (in anonymous, aggregated form) so that they can prepare speed cameras and old-fashioned roadside stakeouts in hotspots where TomTom data reveals speeding is more common.

Personally, navigation device manufacturers helping police find speeding hot spots with anonymous data doesn’t sound so bad to me. Call me a grandma, but in my opinion, the fewer speeders and drunk drivers on the road, the better, even if those people are getting themselves caught, contributing to their own eventual downfall on the roads they frequent.

Update: TomTom has responded to reports,issuing a statementdocumenting what it does with your data:

Dear TomTom customer,

Customers come first at TomTom.

When you use one of our products we ask for your permission to collect travel time information onan anonymous basis. The vast majority of you do indeed grant us that permission. When you connectyour TomTom to a computer we aggregate this information and use it for a variety of applications,most importantly to create high quality traffic information and to route you around traffic jams.

We also make this information available to local governments and authorities. It helps them tobetter understand where congestion takes place, where to build new roads and how to makeroads safer.

We are actively promoting the use of this information because we believe we can help make roadssafer and less congested.

We are now aware that the police have used traffic information that you have helped to create toplace speed cameras at dangerous locations where the average speed is higher than the legallyallowed speed limit. We are aware a lot of our customers do not like the idea and we will look atif we should allow this type of usage.

This is what we really do with the data:

Sincerely,

Harold GoddijnCEO, TomTom

Story byJoel Falconer

Joel Falconer is the Features Editor at TNW. He lives on the Gold Coast, Australia with his wife and three kids and can sometimes be found g(show all)Joel Falconeris the Features Editor at TNW. He lives on the Gold Coast, Australia with his wife and three kids and can sometimes be foundgamingorconsulting. Follow Joel onTwitter.

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