News: Apple to Require Permission to Access Contact Data

After the ongoing concern after Path uploaded user contact data, Apple has issued a statement to AllThingsD that an update will require users to explicitly give access to the data found in the Contacts app.

This is a good move, coming just hours after Apple received notice from Congress about the Path issues. Not only does it takes some responsibility off of developers, but also provides more security for users. It seems it will work like the location or notification popups:

“Apps that collect or transmit a user’s contact data without their prior permission are in violation of our guidelines,” Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr told AllThingsD. “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.”