Apple: App Access to Contact Data Will Require Explicit User Permission

After a week of silence, Apple has finally responded to reports that dozens of iOS applications have been accessing, transmitting and storing user contact data without explicit permission.

Apple has faced growing criticism that it has given iOS developers far too much access to address book information without requiring a user prompt. On Feb 15, the company agreed with that assessment, and said that soon, apps that use address book data will require explicit user permission to do so. “Apps that collect or transmit a user’s contact data without their prior permission are in violation of our guidelines*,” Apple spokesman Tom 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.” So Apple has done the right thing, arguably something it should have done long ago: Assure users that no app can read their contact data without their permission.