Many people don't want their address-book data to be made available when they download apps, but Apple may have made it too easy for software applications to take it.
So Apple says it will start requiring iPhone and iPad apps to obtain "explicit approval" in a separate user prompt before taking the customer's address-book data, in response to pressure from U.S. legislators, Reuters reported.
There has been concern recently that popular apps are able to lift users' private data without their consent.
Apple said it would start requiring "explicit approval" from users after Reps. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., both on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, brought the concern to the Silicon Valley giant's attention, the report continued.
"Apps that collect or transmit a user's contact data without their prior permission are in violation of our guidelines," an Apple spokesman told Reuters. "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."
Waxman and Butterfield sent a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, asking the company to clarify its developer guidelines and increase its regulatory measures, after a Singaporean developer discovered Path, a San Francisco app startup, uploading his contacts' names and phone numbers without his knowledge.
The letter said that the Path situation, "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," according to the report.
