Apple to Require Explicit Permission for iOS Apps Accessing Address Book Data

ios address book iconJust hours after a pair of U.S. Congressmen sent a letter to Apple requesting information on privacy practices, specifically as they relate to address book data being collected and stored by the apps' developers, Apple has issued a statement to AllThingsD indicating that the issue will be addressed in a forthcoming iOS software update.

“Apps that collect or transmit a user’s contact data without their prior permission are in violation of our guidelines,” Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr told AllThingsD. “We’re working to make this even better for our customers, and as we have done with location services, any app wishing to access contact data will require explicit user approval in a future software release.”

Apple has been testing iOS 5.1 for some time, but appears to have slowed development as the company is assumed to be waiting to release it to the public alongside the iPad 3 early next month. The company has not, however, specified whether the new address book permission feature will be included as part of iOS 5.1 or if it will arrive in the form of a separate update, perhaps as an iOS 5.0.2 update to enable a faster turnaround on the fix.

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Top Rated Comments

troop231 Avatar
174 months ago
;)
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kapangas Avatar
174 months ago
They could have done that before...
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Yvan256 Avatar
174 months ago
;)

Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Skika Avatar
174 months ago
;)

Thats Android. :rolleyes:
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KPOM Avatar
174 months ago
This is a good response from Apple, and yet another instance where Tim Cook is managing a potential PR issue a lot differently (and more effectively, IMO) than Steve Jobs. It's obvious from moves like this, to the non-announcement announcement at the Goldman Sachs call yesterday, that Tim Cook believes in a slightly more transparent Apple. It makes sense, and is good business.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Stratus Fear Avatar
174 months ago
Are you implying that iOS is lacking common sense? ;)

I might prefer iOS to Android, but I don't have any qualms with that implication. It's something that should have been done previously.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)