After the whole mess with social networking app, Path, uploading Contact data from iPhone users without asking, the U.S. Congress has started to get involved. Energy and Commerce Committee member Henry Waxman and Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee member G. K. Butterfield issued an open letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook asking some probing questions regarding the iOS developer agreement.  Most of them center around the agreement's reference to transmitting "data about a user". Some of the juicier questions include:

• "Do you consider the contents of the address book to be 'data about a user'?"
• "Do you consider the contents of the address book to be data of the contact?  If not, please explain why not.  Please explain how you protect the privacy and security interests of that contact in his or her information."
• "How many iOS apps in the U.S. iTunes Store transmit information from the address book?  How many of those ask for the user’s consent before transmitting their contacts’ information?"

In response, Apple's Tom Neumayr said in a statement that they intend on requiring explicit permission to access address book data in a future release, much like how location data is handled now.

"Apps that collect or transmit a user’s contact data without their prior permission are in violation of our guidelines. 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."

There's no mention of whether or not that will be in iOS 5.1, which Apple has been testing for some time, and may release alongside the iPad 3 in March.

The letter from Congress sought a formal reply by the end of the month, though I doubt we'll get to read that response. Apple has had some hiccups with location privacy in the past, but their corporate line has consistently been to treat private data with the utmost respect. While it's tricky holding Apple accountable for the snakey stuff that developers do in the App Store, it is their job to curate and approve submissions, and if a bad app slip through the cracks and reaches the public, it's the iPhone's reputation on the line.

At first glance, Android seems to have a better privacy system in place, as it ensures that you provide explicit permission for an app to access different types of data, but I definitely worry that the folks at Google don't look as closely at submissions as Apple does.

iMore put up a concept piece on how we'd like to see contacts, and permissions in general, handled in iOS 6. Would a popup make you feel more secure about your iPhone's personal data? Will it legitimately change a user's behaviour, or will they approve it as absent-mindedly as they do location permission now?

Source: Congressional letter, via The Next Web, AllThingsD

We have only 6 days left to help keep the jailbreaking exemption to the U.S. DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) alive and well, and we need everyone's help to do it. The jailbreaking exemption was granted by the Library of Congress in 2010 but not codified into the law, meaning it's set to expire now, unless the copyright office extends it.

If the jailbreak exemption is not extended, then modifying your iPhone or iPad could be considered a violation of the DMCA, and companies could theoretically sue or press charges against jailbreakers. We think the right to modify our phones for personal use, provided we take personal responsibility for the risks involved, is an important one and deserves protection. The EFF (Electronic Frontier Fund) thinks the same, which is why they're fighting to get the exemption renewed, and are also pushing for tablets and game consoles in general to be included as well. iFixit.org recently spoke to the EFF about where things stand now:

iFixit: Has the Copyright Office made any comments on jailbreaking since the 2010 smartphone exemption? How likely do you think it is that they’ll renew that exemption? Why have exemptions for smartphones but not game consoles and tablets?

EFF: The CO hasn’t made any public comments that we are aware of. We are very hopeful that the smartphone exemption will be renewed, and we think extending it to game consoles and tablets is the logical next step.

bunnie: My understanding is that the CO is fairly conservative about granting such exemptions, so tightly scoping the exemption request increases the chances that the result has real impact. A broad request to exempt large swathes of technology from the DMCA would likely be denied; and such a denial would waste the infrequent window of opportunity to have such requests examined. Therefore, an incremental approach is being taken, allowing the CO to try small changes and become comfortable with them. Note that the request to the CO splits smartphone/tablets and game consoles into separate categories, so that the CO can have the flexibility to reject or accept individual categories.

The interview goes on to discuss the impact the DMCA has had on modifying gaming consoles and the rest of the jailbreak and homebrew communities. Sony, for example, infamously sued well-known iPhone jailbreaker George Hotz, aka Geohot when he jailbroke the Sony Playstation 3.

You can hit the link below to read the whole interview. We also urge you to sign bunnie's petition and leave your own comments if you'd like to see the exception renewed. He plans to take all the signatures and comments to the Copyright office on February 10th at 5pm.

Remember, there are only 6 days left. Whether you jailbreak or not, if the legal right to jailbreak your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad is important to you, act now.

Source: ifixit.org; Petition: jailbreakingisnotacrime.org

US tax dollars at work dept.: TUAW is reporting (via TheHill.com) that the Chief Administrative Office of the U.S Congress is testing iPhones due to "people requesting them as an option":

Adoption of the iPhone by the U.S. Congress could be another blow to RIM, which is now behind Apple in terms of sales and revenues. Apple CEO Steve Jobs gleefully reported that "Apple beat RIM" during yesterday's Q4 Earnings Call.

7 Million iPhone sold last quarter alone, and we've already heard rumors of HSBC ditching the Blackberry for the iPhone. Is this the beginning of Something Big, or just a simple case of new technology getting the tires kicked?

What say you, Americans?