Google Kept Tabs on iPhone Users

It was recently discovered that Google and other advertising companies were bypassing security settings for Apple's mobile Safari browser on iPhones.

Even after consumers opted out of the kind of web use tracking that companies use to create targeted ads, Google and others - including Vibrant Media, Media Innovation Group and PointRoll - continued monitoring their Web use, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. Google only disabled the code that allowed it to continue tracking users after being contacted about the practice by the newspaper.

Google, for its part, believes the newspaper didn't have all the facts about how it monitored browsing behavior, the report said.

"The Journal mischaracterizes what happened and why," the Web giant said in a statement, according to the newspaper. "We used known Safari functionality to provide features that signed-in Google users had enabled. It's important to stress that these advertising cookies do not collect personal information."

Eduard Goodman, chief privacy officer for Identity Theft 911, has a blog about how consumers can better protect their privacy online and stop transmitting personal information to advertisers.