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Looks like they are transmitting data back to Apple. But I thought you said they weren’t. Who do I believe? A well respected new sources or a spin doctor for Apple? Tough call, but I’m going with the WSJ on this one.

I said Apple was not sending this DB data to itself, it isn't. The author of this article, an EXPERT on forensic data extraction, analyzing the data coming from the iPhone did not find the data being sent. Apple says it isn't. Ergo, this data isn't. I stand on that evidence.

What is being sent?

Here's what the WSJ actually said about what Apple actually said they do with the data:

Apple, meanwhile, says it "intermittently" collects location data, including GPS coordinates, of many iPhone users and nearby Wi-Fi networks and transmits that data to itself every 12 hours, according to a letter the company sent to U.S. Reps. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Joe Barton (R-Texas) last year. Apple didn't respond to requests for comment. . .
. . . In its letter to Congress last year, Apple said that it only collects location data from people who use apps that require location. It doesn't specify how often a person must use the app for intermittent collection to occur.
Apple also said in the letter that it collects Wi-Fi and GPS information when the phone is searching for a cellular connection. Apple said the data it transmits about location aren't associated with a unique device identifier, except for data related to its mobile advertising network. (emphasis mine, Swordmaker)
Apple gathers the data to help build a "database with known location information," the letter says. "This information is batched and then encrypted and transmitted to Apple over a Wi-Fi Internet connection every twelve hours (or later if the device does not have Wi-Fi Internet access at that time)," the company wrote in the July letter to Congress.
The letter, which is available on Rep. Markey's website, became newsworthy this week in light of findings from two researchers who uncovered a file on iPhones that keeps a record of where the phone has been and when it was there. The file is unencrypted and stored by default. .

In other words, the ONLY time Apple gets data associated with location that has a phone Identifier connected with it is when the user clicks on an ad requesting information about the item or service being advertised—so that a proper response may be sent to the user. That's part of what Apple has stated Core Location services does... Nothing hidden or sinister. All other times the data is purely raw data sent anonymously and associated with the search for cellular connections.

So, yes, why NOT go with your own article from the Wall Street Journal and their primary source on this claim. . . The letter sent to Congressman Markey last year explaining then, up front and plainly Apple's policy.