Developer Alert: New privacy features in iOS6

Yesterday Apple announced new privacy features as part of the new operating system for iPhones and iPads, iOS6. Here’s the run-down:

1. Users will have a central place to see and access app permissions for use of Contacts, Calendars, Reminders and Photos. This will make it a little easier for users to manage permissions, versus going through settings for each individual app. The interface, courtesy of Business Insider, is shown at left.

2. Perhaps in response to undisclosed data use by apps like Path, iOS6 also will request permission for the use of local data in these categories before the app may access it. The app can provide an explanation of the purpose of this use, which will be presented as part of the permission request.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple will also soon provide a privacy-sensitive framework that allows user tracking across different apps, replacing the UDID which Apple has deprecated. No word yet on if, when or how this will be implemented. It looks like this has also been added in the documentation, which we’re reviewing now.