Apple to ban stealthy iPhone contact data harvesting
Shortly after two U.S. Congressmen asked Apple to answer questions about iPhone and iPad apps that snatch users' contact lists without permission, the Cupertino, Calif. company promised it will address the issue with a future software update.
Earlier today, Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) sent a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook asking him about iOS apps that have harvested users' address book information without permission.
Waxman and Butterfield cited reports that Path, which sells an iOS online journal app, was grabbing users' address books and uploading them to its servers. After the allegations went viral, Path's CEO apologized and said the company deleted the collected address books from its servers. Read more...
Apple releases Mac OS X 10.6.8
Fire up Software Update! In what may be the last Snow Leopard-era OS update ever before Lion’s official first roar, Apple on Thursday released Mac OS X 10.6.8.
In addition to what Apple terms "general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac," the update tweaks the Mac App Store to prepare for the release of Lion. It also resolves an issue that caused Preview to crash, improves IPv6 support and VPN reliability, and identifies and removes known variants of the Mac Defender Trojan horse. There are a number of other improvements included in the update, all of which are detailed in an Apple support document. Read more...