The U.S. Energy and Commerce Committee today sent a letter to Apple requesting information about how Apple safeguards user data. "There have been claims that the practice of collecting consumers' address book contacts without their permission is common and accepted among iOS app developers. This raises questions of whether Apple's iOS app developer policies and practices adequately protect consumer privacy," said ranking committee member Henry A. Waxman in the letter. The committee asked Apple to answer nine questions regarding its app approval policies, including information such as how many iOS apps in the U.S. iTunes Store transmit "data about a user" and a description of how Apple determines whether an app will transmit "data about a user" and whether the consent requirement has been met. The privacy uproar was kicked off when it was discovered that an application called Path uploaded the contents of iPhone owners' address books without permission.


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