"Congress should immediately commence an investigation into this critical issue to help improve companies' disclosure policies so consumers and families can understand who is seeing their information," Markey said.

Markey is co-chairman of the House Bipartisan Privacy Caucus; Franken chairs the Senate Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law.

Apple did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the lawsuit, and has not responded to earlier questions about its location tracking.

Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at or subscribe to . His e-mail address is .

in Computerworld's DRM and Legal Issues Topic Center.