It seems as if Apple takes user complaints serious now. As there are Apps
which seem to misuse the UDID (Unique Device ID) to send unsilicited Ads
and spam, Apple has now updated their privacy policy. So are Apps now
no longer allowed to use the UDID for advertisement mechanisms.

An enormous number of (mostly free Apps) is using the UDID to place user-tailored advertisement on their devices. Others use it for copyright purposes (i.e. to disallow the spreading of e-paper articles onto multiple devices). Apple itself uses the UDID to simply identify if an App is legally used on the corresponding device.

Apple allows the usage of purchased apps on up to 5 devices simultaneously. Serious companies also use the UDID to disallow spreading their App wildly (i.e. on jailbroken devices) or use the UDID to save information of an App’s setting.

However there’s little known about the issue with the contact list and the access of Apps. I’d appreciate if Apple let’s you control which App is allowed to do what actions the way Android already allows you to control. Furthermore should Apple force information popups if an App is trying to gain access to specific privacy data which you have to confirm or disallow.

Of course this may lead into non-working Apps. So I had once installed an App that did not work unless you have signed in with your facebook account. I still wonder what the App (that was for Network Analysis) wanted to do with my Facebook account. maybe posting such useless stuff like: “Netspark uses (insert App name here) to scan network (insert IP here). I don’t know because the first thing after that nagging screen of signing into my Facebook account was deleting the App and send it to data heaven!

Although using Facebook is like broadcasting yourself to the world, I still decide which stuff to share and don’t share everything on it. That’s where I have my website or private area on this blog.

So next time if you browse Apple’s App Store for free Apps, be more suspicious if an App asks you to sign on with your facebook account or wants to access certain features of your iDevice.