We recently reported that iOS 4.3.3 release was expected soon and Apple on Wednesday released the latest software update which fixes the location tracking bug in iOS devices.

Apple was quick to respond to questions concerning location data which was being stores locally on the device and backed up to the computer. The Cupertino based company in its detailed Q&A on location data explained that they do not track location of customers device. And further explained that the database the device collected was being used to cache the location coordinates of WiFi hotspots and cell towers to quickly deliver results for location based services.

Apple intends to use this “crowd-sourced database” to provide, “iPhone users an improved traffic service in the next couple of years.” However, the main issue was that the location information the device was logging was reported to be up to a year’s worth of data and was recognized as a bug in iOS 4.x version.

iOS 4.3.3 software update reduces the size of the cache, no longer backs the cache up to iTunes and deletes the cache when Location Services is turned off.

It’s interesting to note that Apple has promised that the next major release of iOS (iOS 5) will offer the ability to encrypt the location data when it is backed up to iTunes.