How many times have you blindly clicked on yes, when the Terms And Agreements screen with standard options to Agree or Disagree pops up as you are trying to install an app in your smartphone?
Users simply say yes, without casting a second glance on what’s written. Well, that has just proven costly.
Recently, a developer had pointed out that Path, a popular social networking app, was silently uploading iPhone users’ address books to its servers. Soon, such ‘glitches’ were noticed in many other apps, including Twitter, Instagram, Yelp and Foursquare. Twitter even disclosed that when iPhone users visit the friend-finding feature in the app for iOS, their address book is uploaded to Twitter and stored for 18 months.
When news spread, it ruffled many a feather. Smartphones are now increasingly complex and privacy issues remain a mighty, big concern.
Although there is no evidence of these apps misusing personal information, they haven’t been clear on why exactly thy want to do with it either.
Apple, aware of all the brouhaha surrounding the issue, released a statement to AllthingsD, saying: “Apps that collect or transmit a user’s contact data without their prior permission are in violation of our guidelines. 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.”
It is a step in the right direction from the ace smartphone maker, albeit a little late. For app makers, however, it’s a wake up call and for every ‘little trick’ they come up with, there’s always a savvy user going, ‘hey, wait a minute...’.