Apple has been busy enough as it is, moving to respond to bot farming allegations within its App Store while Clonegate still rumbles on in the background.
Now it has spoken out to assuage worries about apps capable of accessing user's contacts without permission.
Arguments had focused on the lack of a prompt built into iOS which would allow users to give or deny permission to certain apps to have that access.
Apple agrees, with spokesman Tom Neumayr telling AllThingsD of the moves to be made in future updates to rectify the situation.
Violation
"Apps that collect or transmit a user's contact data without their prior permission are in violation of our guidelines," Neumayr said.
"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."
These comments follow a letter sent to Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, from House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Henry Waxman and Commerce Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee chair G.K. Butterfield.
"This incident raises questions about whether Apple's iOS app developer policies and practices may fall short when it comes to protecting the information of iPhone users and their contacts," the letter read.
"How many iOS apps in the US iTunes Store transmit information from the address book? How many of those ask for the user's consent before transmitting their contacts information?"
You can read the letter from Congress in full over at AllThingsD.
News
When Matt was 7 years old he didn't write to Santa like the other little boys and girls. He wrote to Mario. When the rotund plumber replied, Matt's dedication to a life of gaming was established. Like an otaku David Carradine, he wandered the planet until becoming a writer at Pocket Gamer.
Top Stories
Feature
May 17th, 2024
New release roundup: The best new mobile games from a battle royale to a console classic remake
Feature
May 16th, 2024
Behind the scenes: How adding sandwich offers to an idle merge game boosted three metrics at once
Events
Valencia Indie Summit 2024 | Europe | May 16th |
Digital Dragons | Europe | May 19th |
GamesBeat Summit 2024 | North America | May 20th |
Mobidictum Meetup Tallinn May 2024 | Europe | May 21st |
Nordic Game Spring 2024 | Nordic | May 21st |
Impact 2024 - Indie Games | May 23rd | |
MomoCon 2024 | North America | May 24th |
Morocco Gaming Expo | Africa | May 24th |
Popular Stories
Feature
May 14th, 2024
53 top mobile games in soft launch: Squad Busters, Battle Guys: Royale, Plants vs. Zombies 3, LEGO Hill Climb Adventures, and more
Feature
May 13th, 2024
Hot Five: Dubai's new Gaming Visa, April's mobile game charts, and Xbox studio closures
Feature
May 14th, 2024