Twitter has admitted
copying entire address books from Smartphones and storing the data on
its servers, often without customers' knowledge. Access to the address book
is enabled when users click on the "Find Friends" feature on
smartphone apps. Two US congressmen
have written to Apple asking why the firm allows the practice on its iPhone,
as it contravenes app developer guidelines. Twitter has said it
will update its privacy policy to be more explicit.
The practice came to
light when an app developer in Singapore, Arun Thampi, noticed that his
contacts had been copied from his iPhone address book without his consent by
a social network called Path. Dave Morin, CEO of Path, apologised and said
Path would ask users to opt in to share their contact information. However,
he noted separately that it was an "industry best practice" to
upload or import address book information.
iPhone apps by
social sites including Facebook, FourSquare, Instagram, Foodspotting and Yelp
are also reported to access the address book.
Social networks have
said that data taken from smartphones - which includes names, phone numbers
and email addresses - is used only to identify friends who used the same
service, and notify the user. But sometimes the data appears to be taken
without first informing the user, or indicating how long the information will
be saved for. Twitter said it would update its app in the wake
of the disclosure, and clarify its privacy policy for users.
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VOCABULARY
1.
Entire
(adj.) - all of a
group, period of time, amount etc [= whole]
2.
Contravenes
(v) - to do something that is not allowed according to a law or rule [= violate]
3.
Explicit
(adj.) - expressed in a way that is very clear and direct
4.
Identify
(v) - makes them easy to recognize
5.
Wake (n)
- it happens afterwards and usually as a result of it
6.
Disclosure
(v) - a secret that someone tells people, or the act of telling this secret
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1.
What can you say about this article?
2.
Talk about the social networking sites popularly
used in your country.
3.
Do you give true information when using these
sites? Why?
4.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of
using social sites.
5.
Do you read the privacy policy of sites before
using them? Why?
