US Congress Looking Into Protection of the Private Data From Applications

After the recent problem with iOS applications, which secretly store data about the users, became public, the US Congress has decided to take things into their own hands and look into the situation. Currently the problem isn’t with the applications publishing information about the users, but they do collect and store it without their permission. First of all, the Congress turned to Apple and requested information about the ways they protect their customers’ private data. The company’s answer, though, seems to have been unacceptable, because the research continues. According to TheNextWeb, Apple aren’t the only ones, who are being questioned.

Quite to the contrary, the Congress has sent such letters to 34 other companies, which have uploaded applications in the “Social Networks” section of the App Store. The companies, among which are Twitter, Tweetbot, FoodSpotting, Turntable.fm, Trover, Instagram, Path, Facebook and Soundcloud, have to provide information about the ways in which they provide protection for their users. One of the companies (Tweetbot) has even posted the whole letter online – you can find it at http://www.scribd.com/doc/86365421/Haddad-Jardine-Tweetbot-2012-3-22 . B. A.