iOS address book privacy: app developers and Apple respond
After a series of high-profile iOS apps have been revealed to surreptitiously upload address book information to their servers, Apple says it plans to require apps to get user approval before collecting data.
Path will pay $800,000 in FTC settlement over privacy controversy
Last year, social networking app Path came under fire when it was discovered that the company was collecting contact data from user address books without permission and storing that information on its servers. Today the company has reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, with terms that require Path to receive privacy assessments for the next 20 years and establish what the FTC calls a "comprehensive" privacy policy. It will also have to pay a fine of $800,000 for collecting...
OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion Developer Preview 2 released; asks permission for contact access
Apple is working towards the summer release of OS X 10.8, aka Mountain Lion, and to that end it's released a 2nd Developer Preview to, well, developers. The change log shows that there are still a lot of unfinished edges in the OS, from Game Center to AirPlay to the Notes app. However, one thing you wouldn't know until you ran it is that there's a new privacy feature. Dustin Curtis discovered that when an app attempts to access your contacts, OS X pops up a dialog box asking your permission....
Apple
Path will protect private user data with 'hashing' in next release
Path's big 2.1 release today comes with a promise of another update coming shortly: version 2.1.1. The extra .1 on the end represents Path's intention to add "hashing" to any contact data it collects. The move is obviously a response to the fact that Path experienced the brunt of the contact collection drama last month, when it was revealed the the company was collecting address book information from its users. In response, Path deleted the data, apologized, updated its app to request...
Apple: iOS to require explicit permission for contact data in 'future software release'
Following a full week of drama about the unfettered access all apps have to iOS contacts, Apple has finally weighed in. Apple first reiterated its already-existing policy that apps weren't supposed to be accessing or uploading contact data without explicit user permission, "apps that collect or transmit a user's contact data without their prior permission are in violation of our guidelines." However, that policy clearly hasn't prevented a large number of apps from accessing that information,...
Mobile
Congress sends Apple letter filled with questions about iOS address book privacy
The iOS address book row is no longer just a tempest in the internet's teapot: members of the US Congress have just sent a letter to Apple, demanding answers about its app approval process and the privacy and security of data that's accessed or transmitted by iOS apps. The letter follows a wave of complaints and bickering this week that ignited with the revelation that Path was uploading data from iPhone address books without asking for explicit permission. Path has since apologized to its...
Web & Social
iOS apps and the address book: who has your data, and how they're getting it
Over the course of the past week, a firestorm has erupted in the world of iOS apps, thanks to the discovery that Path was uploading data from your iPhone's address book without asking for explicit permission. Upon opening the app and registering, Path automatically uploaded your contact data in order to "find friends" that you might want to connect to. Path has since apologized and updated its app, but the problem exposed by the episode remains.
Stated simply: any iOS app has complete access...
Web & Social
Path CEO apologizes for address book uploading, deletes all user data, and updates app with privacy controls
Path has moved quickly to try and quell the backlash stemming from the social networking app's practice of uploading users' address books to the company's servers. CEO Dave Morin just posted a lengthy apology on Path's blog, saying "we are deeply sorry if you were uncomfortable with how our application used your phone contacts." The company has also just released an update to the iOS app that allows users to opt in or out of sharing their address book with Path's servers. As he did yesterday,...
Apps & Software
Path iOS app uploads your entire address book to its servers
When developer Arun Thampi started looking for a way to port photo and journaling software Path to Mac OS X, he noticed some curious data being sent from the Path iPhone app to the company's servers. Looking closer, he realized that the app was actually collecting his entire address book — including full names, email addresses, and phone numbers — and uploading it to the central Path service. What's more, the app hadn't notified him that it would be collecting the information.
Path CEO...
