Apple Addresses iTunes Privacy Concerns

By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

As we reported earlier, the 6.0.2 release of Apple’s iTunes software was criticized because the “Mini Store”, which shows albums and tracks for sale by the current artist when a song is played (not from a playlist but by selecting and playing it), sends data back to a 3rd party … and because people weren’t informed of this behavior in a EULA.

An update now provides prominant information about the Mini Store the first time it is opened, as well as an easy way to disable it. Once disabled, no information is exchanged. Critics of the initial release seem satisfied with this response.

“I feel that Apple, in clearly telling users what the iTunes MiniStore does, has met its obligations for informing users,” said Kirk McElhearn, an author of several Apple technical books, who helped identify the issue last week. “The fact that they clearly state, in this ‘warning’, that they do not keep any information about the contents of users’ iTunes music libraries is sufficient for me.” Source: News.com

We Say: As I indicated in my earlier story, I thought the problem was once again one of information … or rather, lack of it. My initial closing statement in that post was “If Apple had been open about this, there wouldn’t be a big flap about it.” I still believe that to be the case.