Why is Maps using GPS in background?

Every few minutes, location services arrow icon appears to status bar. This happens all the time, when device is locked, when I'm using Safari, etc.

If I go to Settings -> Privacy -> Location, I can see that Maps is the application that has used my location. If I kill Maps in multitasking, it doesn't matter. After a few minutes, arrow icon still appears again. I can't understand how Maps can activate GPS when it's not running!

Doesn't this drain my battery faster?

Is CIA tracking me? ;-)