apple iphone address book problem prompts response from Apple, apps' use of contact data will need user permission

The other day today, developer Arun Thampi detailed on his blog the way the Path application for iOS utilized users' contact details and submitted that data to Path's servers -- all with no explicit permission granted around the user's part. That sparked quite the firestorm, including research into which other applications socialized in the same way (a number of, it works out), plus some reactions from many other application makers -- Twitter, for just one, has acknowledged it does store users' contact data, but it now intends to adjust its application to more clearly inform customers of this behavior. Now, Apple itself has additionally responded, with spokesperson Tom Neumayr telling AllThingsD that "applications that collect or transmit a user's contact data without their prior permission have been in breach in our recommendations," but that it's "scheming to make this better still for the clients, so that as we've completed with location services, any application wanting to gain access to contact data will need explicit user approval inside a future software release." Still not sure on when don't be surprised that software update, though.

Incidentally, what is the news occurs within 24 hours that Congressmen Henry Waxman and G.K. Butterfield sent instructions to Apple within the problem, asking it react to numerous privacy-related questions no after Feb 29th. That letter are available in full following the break.

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