Apple's use of Location Services data tied to UWB management & federal guidelines
Apple has said that the iPhone 11 family is using location data to regulate Ultra Wideband emissions, but is not collecting the data, and everything is being done on-device.

Apple has issued a statement to AppleInsider and other venues in response to security researcher Brian Krebs discovering that the iPhone 11 Pro appears to periodically utilize its GPS module to gather location data in the face of user wishes.
Apple said at the time that the Location Services notification to users was by design -- but wasn't specific as to why.
"We do not see any actual security implications," an Apple engineer said. "It is expected behavior that the Location Services icon appears in the status bar when Location Services is enabled. The icon appears for system services that do not have a switch in Settings."
In iOS 13, users can enable and disable system location services in the Privacy > Location Services section of the Settings app. Control is highly granular, with toggles available for first- and third-party apps, basic iOS services, and other Apple features. Additions in iOS 13 greatly enhance user control over data sharing features and reduces the possibility of inadvertent location tracking features.
Apple has also said that it will allow users to toggle the feature completely off in a future update. However, roll-out of that toggle appears to be related to government requirements which aren't presently under review in the US at least -- so when this will be provided to users isn't clear at this time.

Apple has issued a statement to AppleInsider and other venues in response to security researcher Brian Krebs discovering that the iPhone 11 Pro appears to periodically utilize its GPS module to gather location data in the face of user wishes.
As evidenced by Krebs' research, Apple's iOS location services indicator, a small arrow icon that denotes recent or current use of GPS data, appears next to apps and services that have been manually disabled in Settings. Krebs was unable to replicate the potential security issue on an iPhone 8 -- which makes sense now, given Apple's statement about UWB management."Ultra Wideband technology is an industry standard technology and is subject to international regulatory requirements that require it to be turned off in certain locations. iOS uses Location Services to help determine if iPhone is in these prohibited locations in order to disable Ultra Wideband and comply with regulations."
"The management of Ultra Wideband compliance and its use of location data is done entirely on the device and Apple is not collecting user location data."
Apple said at the time that the Location Services notification to users was by design -- but wasn't specific as to why.
"We do not see any actual security implications," an Apple engineer said. "It is expected behavior that the Location Services icon appears in the status bar when Location Services is enabled. The icon appears for system services that do not have a switch in Settings."
In iOS 13, users can enable and disable system location services in the Privacy > Location Services section of the Settings app. Control is highly granular, with toggles available for first- and third-party apps, basic iOS services, and other Apple features. Additions in iOS 13 greatly enhance user control over data sharing features and reduces the possibility of inadvertent location tracking features.
Apple has also said that it will allow users to toggle the feature completely off in a future update. However, roll-out of that toggle appears to be related to government requirements which aren't presently under review in the US at least -- so when this will be provided to users isn't clear at this time.
Comments
Step 1. Implement a function. Tell no on about it.
Step 2. Have it discovered by someone outside the organization.
Step 3. Retroactively explain, then offer an opt out.
Opt out after the fact gives the impression that "we're only offering an opt out because someone found out what we're doing". Unnecessary self infliction.
Apple stop punching yourself in the nuts. The optics are always worse when "caught" doing something. That vaunted Marketing department could have easily preemptively spun this as a security and safety bullet point of the 11 series and 100% we would have had multiple articles extolling the virtues of UWB geofencing. Not a negative peep would have been heard.
This particular bugaboo is one of the things that lines up with their marketing.
While we're at it, while not force Apple to release a hundred billions lines of source code so we can verify whether there is anything there that might be used to spy on us?
Just FYI, mobile phones were doing this for years before the iPhone ever existed. It's nothing new. Get a grip on reality.
So you should probably 1. understand what you read and reply accordingly. 2. take a deep deep breath and ease up on the silly rhetoric. 3. at least have a modicum of understanding regarding the topic of the article. Based on your comment, you have absolutely no idea what we're all discussing.
Proof that you have no idea what you're talking about here:
Since this is the case - according to your infinite wisdom- I'm sure you can point to one such phone. Naaaaaaaaaaaaaah, who am I kidding. I know you lied and made up some nonsense. Apple is the first smartphone vendor to implement UWB tech in their smartphones and they only did it in 2019 with the 11 series. So maybe you should take your own advice and get a grip on reality.
Just what do you think a cell phone pinging the nearest towers is doing? And that's been around way before the iPhone. Even when you're not using the phone, it will ping the nearest tower at regular intervals of non-use. It might be every 15 minute or every hour or every 2 hours or what ever the service provider program. But it will ping whether you know it or not, so long as the phone is powered on.
Now your service provider, who keeps this data, is not using this data in order to track you, but law enforcement can and have (with a court order). It's not as accurate as GPS but can show, that your phone at least, was in a certain area by way of tower triangulation. Could be within a square block or a square mile or a square 10 miles. It depends on how many towers are in the area.
Now why does your provider need for your cell phone to ping a tower every so often ...... so that when you have an incoming call, they don't have to search for your phone, every where they provide their service. They first search for your phone in the area where it was last used or where it last received a ping from your phone. The more often your phone pings a tower, the less time and effort, it takes for your provider to find your phone and make the connection.
If you drove from SF to LA in 6 hours, and the last call you made before arriving in LA, was in SF, your provider would be wasting their time looking for your phone in SF, 3 hours into your drive. Put if your phone was still on and pings a tower every 1/2 hour or so, while driving, they would know that you are no longer in SF and concentrate in the area where they received the last ping from your phone.
If your provider don't receive a ping from your phone after so many hours, it will assume that you are in an area with no reception or you turned off your phone and will then send the incoming call directly to voice mail. Your phone will always ping a tower if there's reception and will ping once it establishes a reception, after a period of no reception. So long as it's on. And will ping a tower every time you power on and off your phone, whether you used it or not.
Now back in the days before the iPhone, this data wasn't of interest to anyone but the providers and law enforcement. But now of days with the likes of Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, cell phone makers and other data mining businesses, using location data for marketing purpose is big money. Specially now that it has gotten infinity more accurate with GPS. And yet, no one seems to be making a big deal about service providers collecting location data for their own internal operational use, by way of cell constantly pinging towers ..... unless it involves Apple.