Apple's Bud Tribble to Testify in Senate Hearing on Mobile Privacy

122037 core location map

As noted by All Things Digital, the U.S. Senate has posted a hearing notice for a Judiciary Committee meeting on mobile privacy scheduled for May 10th at 10:00 AM in Washington, DC. According to the witness list included in the notice, Apple's Bud Tribble will be providing testimony during the session, which is entitled "Protecting Mobile Privacy: Your Smartphones, Tablets, Cell Phones and Your Privacy".

The session will begin with a panel featuring representatives from the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice, presumably to give background and set the stage for testimony as the legislators attempt to learn more about how consumer privacy is handled with mobile devices. Tribble will be joined on a second panel by Google's public policy director, Alan Davidson, as well as several other witnesses from public interest groups and trade association/lobbying groups.

Tribble serves as vice president of software technology at Apple and has a long history with the company. He served as manager of the Macintosh development team and oversaw the development of Mac OS, and later joined Steve Jobs to found NeXT. Tribble returned to Apple in early 2002.

The Senate hearing was sparked by concerns over location tracking information publicized for being stored on users' iPhones and Android-based handsets. The hearing was initiated by Senator Al Franken, and Jobs reported soon after that Apple intended to participate in the discussions as requested. Senate officials confirmed last week that both Apple and Google would be sending representatives to the hearing.

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Triad

Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone May Finally Go All Screen

Tuesday April 15, 2025 6:31 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "bold" new iPhone Pro model for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. As part of what's being described as a "major shake-up," Apple is said to be developing a design that makes more extensive use of glass – and this could point directly to the display itself. Here's the case for Apple releasing a truly all-screen iPhone with no...
maxresdefault

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and ...
CarPlay Hero

Apple Releases Wireless CarPlay Fix

Wednesday April 16, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
If you have been experiencing issues with wireless CarPlay in your vehicle lately, it was likely due to a software bug that has now been fixed. Apple released iOS 18.4.1 today, and the update's release notes say it "addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles." If wireless CarPlay was acting up for you, updating your iPhone to iOS 18.4.1 should...
top stories 2025 04 19

Top Stories: iPhone 17 Pro Rumors, CarPlay Bug Fix, and More

Saturday April 19, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
This week saw rumor updates on the iPhone 17 Pro and next-generation Vision Pro, while a minor iOS 18.4.1 update delivered not just security fixes but also a fix for some CarPlay issues. We also looked ahead at what else is in Apple's pipeline for the rest of 2025 and even the 20th-anniversary iPhone coming in 2027, so read on below for all the details on these stories and more! iPhone 17 ...
iOS 18

iOS 18.5 Includes Only a Few Changes So Far

Monday April 21, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 18.5 to developers today, and so far the software update includes only a few minor changes. The changes are in the Mail and Settings apps. In the Mail app, you can now easily turn off contact photos directly within the app, by tapping on the circle with three dots in the top-right corner. In the Settings app, AppleCare+ coverage information is more...

Top Rated Comments

rdowns Avatar
182 months ago
I was hoping somebody higher up would do it. If they lie or do not give the full truth, we should demand prosecution and a perp walk after arrest.
You never disappoint.

Did it ever occur to you that he may be the most qualified person from Apple to testify?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Fast Shadow Avatar
182 months ago
The trouble with Tribble
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rdowns Avatar
182 months ago




Who? How about Scott Forestall, since based on his job title, he is more involved in iOS.


Good point. Let's ask for the long form birth certificate.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AgingGeek Avatar
182 months ago
title should be "Trouble with Tribble"....

ah, nevermind.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Northgrove Avatar
182 months ago
After hearing Apple's explanation for this geolocation cache, and programming GPS software myself at work, they make perfect sense. The iPhone *is* very quick at receiving a decent position even in less optimal environments. And that's no doubt thanks to it having a decent idea of where you last were. This helps in providing a smooth end-user experience. This is also why Android also did it, no doubt. It's probably no new idea in the industry. *I* should do it in our software too. No need for conspiracies, when logic and information makes better sense.

So...

This title:

"Apple's Bud Tribble to Testify in Senate Hearing on Mobile Privacy"

... could in essence be changed to this:

"Apple to Teach Senate on Geolocation Services"
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
econgeek Avatar
182 months ago
When are we going to see hearings on the massive privacy violations in ObamaCare, the "stimulus" bill (which was mostly about other stuff), the renewal of the PATRIOT act, etc?

The government has removed the concept of privacy as a basic right, which, by the way, the constitution doesn't allow them to do.

There's supreme court rulings on this-- believe it or not, one of they key ones was Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion by finding that anti-abortion laws violated women's right to privacy.

I trust Apple to do the right thing, because they've always done right by me.

I trust the federal government to do the wrong thing, because they've never done right by me, and they've constantly lied about it. (Even the Privacy Act of the 1970s reduced privacy, and the few protections it did provide are routinely violated by the federal government now.)

Oh, right, they can get PR for themselves by going after Apple and %90 of the people never bothered to read the bills I referred to earlier and so have no clue that the government has put privacy violations into law.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)