The Hill News

Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) called for a congressional investigation of Apple and Google after reports that their phones contained tracking software.

"Cong should investigate Apple/Google tracking of Americans â€" privacy rights shld protect unless judge's warrant," Kirk wrote in a tweet Friday.

Kirk's tweet comes after news broke this week that Apple iPhones and Android smartphones keep data on the devices' location, unbeknownst to the user. On Wednesday, Democratic legislators Sen. Al Franken (Minn.) and Rep. Jay Inslee (Wash.) both criticized the secret tracking system.

"There are numerous ways in which this information could be abused by criminals and bad actors," Franken wrote in a letter to Apple CEO Steve Jobs, questioning how the data is used and why it's stored in the first place. !