[Macworld]

Post your comments for Apple: iOS update to require user permission for apps to access contacts here

[zombie_farm]

Good!.. Im glad that companies are starting to realize that it can't be left up to the developer( no matter how reputable) and must be put in the hands of the user.. I was actually impressed today I went to share something on Facebook and FB actually told me what they were accessing and what it allowed them to do with my account..

[SFrawley]

Yeah, and Apple will break my jailbreak, too! I will stay with Ryan Petrich's ContactPrivacy, available now thru Cydia. Cydia to the rescue again, well before Apple.

It is amazing how many Apps do this to siphon my information for their unjustified reasons. I don't steal software and won't give up my jailbreak. Screw those that do. Path is just one of many that have taken this evil route.

[bonesb]

"Now, as it does before any app can access your current location, Apple will introduce an iOS-level interstitial requiring your approval."

I hope Apple does a better job with this than their location access mechanism. I've deleted the Pulse app after seeing regular message in Xcode's Console that my location was being sampled "in order to bring me a better local experience" - Pulse never asked for my permission, doesn't have any means to turn off location services for the app, and was sampling my location about ever 15 minutes - whether I had the Pulse app open or not. I'm running the latest 5.1 beta now, and without Pulse installed. And, they never responded to my email either.

I'd wondered why my Location Services icon kept appearing/disappearing in the iOS Status Bar of my two iPhones, that's what tipped me off. My battery life improved considerably after going Pulse-free.

[tewha31c2]

Well, I'm glad that Apple is going to protect these APIs. But I'm also a bit disappointed, because developers should have been using them responsibly. Now apps that properly hash contact information and upload the hashes securely will look just as dangerous as those that upload raw contacts unencrypted.

[blecch]

Thank goodness! That was a HUGE obvious privacy hole - I mean forget UDIDs, the Address Book contains your name, home address and phone number, not to mention e-mail address and all of your contacts' information!

[Tanker01a]

Well let me see if I get this right. What's this thing that we always hear about all the time from the American propaganda machine "Too much government"?
"..Congressman Henry A. Waxman (D-California) and Congressman G. K. Butterfield (D-North Carolina)...demanded answers from Apple...?
Well, imagine that! Democrat "Liberal" Representatives are out to protect our "Privacy Rights"? I would have never thought of it. I do not see one Republican making the list or did I miss it?!
I find it interesting that no one is commenting about "that". Especially, when every "American" wants the government to keep their authoritarian noses out of technology. Here is a basic fundamental privacy right or space that was being violated right under our noses and only a very handful of techie savvy person was even aware of it...

[apfel]

There is a simple word for taking someone's property without permission: THEFT. The owners of these apps should be prosecuted, criminally.

[mwfast]

Macworld, on 15 February 2012 - 11:56 AM, said:

Post your comments for Apple: iOS update to require user permission for apps to access contacts here

A few days ago either my iPad or iMac was hacked into and my address book was accessed!

I use AOL and many emails were sent saying that I was stranded in Spain and needed money!

I received a message from AOL saying my account was temporally closed "due to unusual activity."


Will this new update restricting access to the address book prevent this from happening?