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U.S. Congress grills 34 iOS developers on compliance with Apple’s app privacy policies in official letter

Thursday, March 22, 2012 · 5:11 pm · 15 Comments

“The U.S. Congress has begun requesting more information about how iOS developers comply with Apple’s privacy policies regarding apps, how they gather information from users and what they do with it afterwards,” Matthew Panzarino reports for The Next Web.

“The Next Web has been supplied with a request for information sent to developer Tapbots by House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman and Chairman Fred Upton,” Panzarino reports. “This letter was also sent to 33 other iOS developers in addition to Tweetbot including Twitter, Foodspotting, Turntable.fm,, Trover, Instagram’s Burbn, Path, Facebook, SoundCloud and more.”

Panzarino reports, “The request details information that that the house would like to have supplied to it. This is likely related to the letter that Congress sent to Apple just last month about the app Path, which was storing Address book data without notice.”

Much more in the full article here.

Categories: News

Tags: Fred Upton, Henry Waxman, ios, iOS developers, personal data, privacy, U.S. Congress

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Comment Feed

15 Comments

84 Mac Guy

Thursday, March 22, 2012 - 5:50 pm · Reply

You gotta love our government. These are the guys who spy on citizens and are building a giant data center in Utah to track everyone’s electronic communication. Yet they are spending time harassing the high tech community about privacy.

Hey Congress, why don’t you earn you campaign contributions and deal with our budget deficit before we are bankrupt.
- Hank
  
  Thursday, March 22, 2012 - 6:31 pm · Reply
  
  Looks like they’re trying to learn tricks and recruit talent …
- USA
  
  Thursday, March 22, 2012 - 6:38 pm · Reply
  
  Don’t these AHOLES have anything better to do?? Like investigate all the fraud in the Democrat party???? Starting with Maobama’s birth certificate, college records, and social security number.
  - True North
    
    Thursday, March 22, 2012 - 6:44 pm · Reply
    
    The Republicans wouldn’t recognize fraud if they fell over it. To then it’s just accepted business practice.
    - Not a Lemming
      
      Thursday, March 22, 2012 - 7:18 pm · Reply
      
      That’s why it’s always demoTARDS getting caught red-handed in FRAUD!!!!!
      - kingmel
        
        Friday, March 23, 2012 - 12:42 am · Reply
        
        Righttt…that is always the case. No exceptions. You don’t have to be a lemming to be a complete, friction’ idiot.
  - CitizenX
    
    Thursday, March 22, 2012 - 7:44 pm · Reply
    
    Hey. I have a dead horse you can flog here. Free and you can even send it to the glue factory after you are finished.
- Janice
  
  Thursday, March 22, 2012 - 6:42 pm · Reply
  
  I’m with 84 Mac Guy–until these guys can balance the budget, they should just STFU and leave everyone else in peace. How much time are developers going to waste dealing with them instead of creating great new apps? If it’s even 5 minutes, that’s too much!!
Mike

Thursday, March 22, 2012 - 6:00 pm · Reply

I would like to know why it’s OK for the telephone company to print a phone book containing everyone’s name and address and then hand out said phone book to anyone. I never consented to this.
- BMWTwisty
  
  Thursday, March 22, 2012 - 6:51 pm · Reply
  
  Or better yet – you have to PAY to remain anonymous!
  - Indentured1
    
    Friday, March 23, 2012 - 9:16 am · Reply
    
    Even that doesn’t work. I had a stalker whose brother worked for the phone company, unbeknownst to me. Spent $5/month (?) to remain anonymous, had moved 1200 miles away, and 6 months later, there she was, at my door! Scared the crap out of me. So the more these developers do the same type of stuff, the more I say go get them, congress! Yes balance the budget, yes create jobs, but also yes, protect my freedom! That’s in the job description as well.
HD Boy

Thursday, March 22, 2012 - 8:04 pm · Reply

Last week, I wrote to a congressional committee investigating computer address book privacy violations to complain about LinkedIn. I am very glad to see that LinkedIn is one of the 34 company’s being investigated. LinkedIn is harvesting computer address book data without member’s knowledge or permission.

http://democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?q=news/ranking-members-waxman-and-butterfield-launch-inquiry-into-information-collection-and-use-pract
Predrag

Friday, March 23, 2012 - 10:32 am · Reply

As a foreigner, I am simply AMAZED at how some people here accept twisted political logic to completely bypass any common sense and reason.

Let us see here: apparently, there are these apps that siphon consumers’ PRIVATE data without consent. Since nobody can seem to make them take notice and stop doing that, the government (essentially representatives, elected by the population to, well, represent them) is now attempting to do something about it.

But apparently, quite a few forum members here would apparently prefer that these apps continue to siphon their private data without consent, and that the government do NOTHING about that.

Can anybody explain to me WHY would you NOT want your democratically ELECTED representatives do something that could result in better protection of your privacy as a citizen?

And, before someone regurgitates the old “Balance the budget, save economy, create jobs first, then do this $h!t!”, this particular initiative is by the House Energy and Commerce committee, which doesn’t really have the ability (or the prupose) to balance federal (or any other) budgets, create jobs, save economies or anything as grand.

I wonder, from which political party come the two representativew (Waxman and Upton)…? It might explain the political diarrhea above.
- codejutsu
  
  Friday, March 23, 2012 - 11:06 am · Reply
  
  You win. Finally a grown-up argument. Yes, before you judge these lawmakers, notice (through reading) that this is a bipartisan committee investigating private companies (which have no mandates to public benefit) siphoning YOUR private information without your permission.
SlyBriFry

Friday, March 23, 2012 - 12:07 pm · Reply

Dear Congress:

We can sum up your request in 5 words: NONE OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS.

Respectfully,

Company X