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[IP] "Apple tweaks iTunes following privacy concerns"





Begin forwarded message:

From: Dan Updegrove <updegrove@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: January 18, 2006 6:13:59 PM EST
To: Dave Farber <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: "Apple tweaks iTunes following privacy concerns"

Dave,

In response to privacy concerns raised January 11, " [IP] iTunes update spies on your listening and sends it to Apple?" CNET is reporting that Apple has changed the

By John Borland
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: January 18, 2006, 9:08 AM PST
Last modified: January 18, 2006, 11:09 AM PST


Following a wave of privacy concerns last week, Apple Computer has begun prominently notifying customers about a new recommendation feature in its iTunes software, as well as spotlighting a simple way to turn it off.

The new feature, a "MiniStore" pane in the software, provides music recommendations to iTunes users based on the songs currently in the software's active playlist. To do so, it sends information about those songs back to Apple, even if the tracks weren't originally purchased from the iTunes Music Store.

The information exchange also includes a string of data linked to an iTunes customer's unique ID number, which is also used for other Apple accounts, such as the .Mac service and the Apple Developer Connection, computer experts found last week. An Apple representative said last week that the company did not store or archive any of the information from this MiniStore recommendation process.

Previously, that information exchange was not disclosed in any user agreement or in the software itself. However, an update posted late Tuesday now prominently adds a notification inside the iTunes software itself when the MiniStore is turned on for the first time.

... <http://news.com.com/Apple+tweaks+iTunes+following+privacy +concerns/2100-1027_3-6028085.html?tag=nefd.top>

Regards,
Dan

VP  for Information Technology          Phone (512) 232-9610
The University of Texas at Austin       Fax (512) 232-9607
FAC 248 (Mail code: G9800)              d.updegrove@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
P.O. Box 7407 http:// web.austin.utexas.edu/dau2
Austin, TX 78713-7407


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