Apple: We’re Not Using High Tech to Follow You Around. Honest.

A week after researchers found what appeared to be a detailed log of users' locations stored on iPhones and iPad 3Gs, Apple has finally ended its silence on the controversy to insist that it's not tracking customers' locations.

In a Q&A on the Apple website, company executives say the internal log is used to speed up the process of resolving locations for GPS-enabled applications.  Because of the kerfuffle it's causing,  the company says it will soon issue a software patch that will change the way the log works.

In the release, Apple accepts some blame for not explaining the technology clearly enough. The Apple website says users are confused in large part because those who created this new technology haven't done enough to educate buyers about its capabilities.

via Apple responds to location-log issue, plans a fix | TechBlog | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle.

This mea culpa may or may not be enough to defuse the outrage directed at Apple from all directions, including official Washington, D.C., where there's been talk of Congressional hearings.

Judging from some of the responses to the online Q&A, a lot of iPad and iPhone users aren't buying Apple's explanation.