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OS X Mountain Lion Apps Now Ask Permission to Access Contacts
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Waste of electrons
Why is this privacy?
I approve Adium to see if Bob Jones has an email address. Should be a system call to return a value from the address database.
Instead Adium uploads my address book, email, phones, address, etc.... I've just given them permission to access it, but apparently I don't get to limit their use or access.
It's sham privacy. Meaningless.
BTW, I used Adium only because it was the example cited above. In my experience they are a reputable company.
Why is this privacy?
I approve Adium to see if Bob Jones has an email address. Should be a system call to return a value from the address database.
Instead Adium uploads my address book, email, phones, address, etc.... I've just given them permission to access it, but apparently I don't get to limit their use or access.
It's sham privacy. Meaningless.
BTW, I used Adium only because it was the example cited above. In my experience they are a reputable company.
No, why should Adium need to access your contact information? All your Facebook and MSN contacts are stored on offsite servers and this isn't justification to allowing it to look up your contacts. Adium shouldn't even need to access your address book contacts unless you specifically enabled meta-contacts or are merging contacts.
Here's a proposal...
When uploading an app to the store, developers must state how they will potentially make users feel their privacy is violated. Apple verified that privacy is only violated those ways. They also verify it makes sense for the app to need the data.
The user then goes into system preferences and has a single universal checkbox for each type of privacy. "Yes, let any app use my location. No, no app can access my address book."
A user of 100 apps shouldn't need to answer 100 privacy questions. If I approve of one app having my location for a legit reason (remember, Apple verifies reasons are legit,) then why wouldn't I approve of all apps having my location for legit reasons?
When uploading an app to the store, developers must state how they will potentially make users feel their privacy is violated. Apple verified that privacy is only violated those ways. They also verify it makes sense for the app to need the data.
The user then goes into system preferences and has a single universal checkbox for each type of privacy. "Yes, let any app use my location. No, no app can access my address book."
A user of 100 apps shouldn't need to answer 100 privacy questions. If I approve of one app having my location for a legit reason (remember, Apple verifies reasons are legit,) then why wouldn't I approve of all apps having my location for legit reasons?
Funny thing is , the same can be said about the Microsoft side. With 90% global usage and a 20 year dominance.....well, these challenges have been faced head on and with Win. 7 & 8 a lot more clear.
I think as time goes on you are going to see a lot more of this from Apple and they are in a better position to predict the coming threats.
There are still some huge security risks but unlike MS of the 90's the defense has the upper hand. (I hope)
Who are you children?
I find this really disappointing. I'm also disappointed in all you users who think this is a good idea, or who think that Apple should warn you based on based on what the application THAT YOU INSTALLED ON YOUR OWN COMPUTER is doing. If you don't know what a program does, or you're worried the program isn't legit, don't install it. Don't rely on some nanny state BS to try and keep you safe or your information private. I don't want Apple safeguarding what I put on my computer. What's next, they going to hold root to my box themselves and I have to get their permission (after all they're just keeping me safe) if I want to edit my own config files?
I find this really disappointing. I'm also disappointed in all you users who think this is a good idea, or who think that Apple should warn you based on based on what the application THAT YOU INSTALLED ON YOUR OWN COMPUTER is doing. If you don't know what a program does, or you're worried the program isn't legit, don't install it. Don't rely on some nanny state BS to try and keep you safe or your information private. I don't want Apple safeguarding what I put on my computer. What's next, they going to hold root to my box themselves and I have to get their permission (after all they're just keeping me safe) if I want to edit my own config files?
I am 99.99% sure now that I will not update...
It's turning into Windows, where you have to disable over 9000 security things to get anything to work.
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And @#$%ing firewalls...
Dude, Windows blocks half of the stuff I open for some random reason. Once I disable the firewall, it keeps nagging me about it to no end.
It's turning into Windows, where you have to disable over 9000 security things to get anything to work.
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Yeah, because it's so hard to switch off User Access Control in Windows...
And @#$%ing firewalls...
Dude, Windows blocks half of the stuff I open for some random reason. Once I disable the firewall, it keeps nagging me about it to no end.
Aren't we all going a little overboard here? It's...a prompt. It comes up just, like, occasionally. It's not nanny state BS, because it's not blocking the program entirely. It's saying "hey, this wants to do something behind the scenes. Do you want to give it permission to do so? Yes/No". Hardly what I'd call invasive or annoying. It comes up. You press a single button, and move on with your life. It takes literally 1.184433 seconds out of your day.
I use Windows about 90% of the time. I have to contend with the UAC about, maybe, 2-3 times a day. That's roughly 3.5 seconds of my day. It comes up when I install something new, which happens maybe...a couple of times a week. At most. Or if I happen to run one of the three programs that needs administrator rights, which I might do, at most, twice a day. The firewall? I see a prompt for access maybe once a month, usually when I'm installing a program that needs access to some super special internet feature. Once you allow a program access once, it never bothers you about it again.
This new feature in Mountain Lion will probably be similar. It'll be something that comes up rarely. It isn't worth the fretting and the angst I'm seeing in this thread.
Seriously, people. If you mere thought of occasionally pressing an extra button bothers you, I gotta say you've got considerably larger issues you need to deal with.
I'm thinking you either run Windows on a corporate network, which has a series of blocks for a very good reason, or you don't use Windows at all.
I haven't had to disable a single thing to get my stuff to work. Now that the vast majority of programs out there aren't demanding administrator rights for stupid reasons, the UAC barely comes up at all. The firewall? It only blocks something if you tell it to when first prompted. If you're having problems, it's because you made it that way.
I use Windows about 90% of the time. I have to contend with the UAC about, maybe, 2-3 times a day. That's roughly 3.5 seconds of my day. It comes up when I install something new, which happens maybe...a couple of times a week. At most. Or if I happen to run one of the three programs that needs administrator rights, which I might do, at most, twice a day. The firewall? I see a prompt for access maybe once a month, usually when I'm installing a program that needs access to some super special internet feature. Once you allow a program access once, it never bothers you about it again.
This new feature in Mountain Lion will probably be similar. It'll be something that comes up rarely. It isn't worth the fretting and the angst I'm seeing in this thread.
Seriously, people. If you mere thought of occasionally pressing an extra button bothers you, I gotta say you've got considerably larger issues you need to deal with.
I'm thinking you either run Windows on a corporate network, which has a series of blocks for a very good reason, or you don't use Windows at all.
I haven't had to disable a single thing to get my stuff to work. Now that the vast majority of programs out there aren't demanding administrator rights for stupid reasons, the UAC barely comes up at all. The firewall? It only blocks something if you tell it to when first prompted. If you're having problems, it's because you made it that way.
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I just hope that when you do make the choice to (dis)allow, the stays made. Unlike the trouble I'm STILL having with apps (iTunes included) that keep asking me to "Allow Incoming Access".
I use Windows 7 and XP on my own PC (but also at school, where the tech crew is so bad that it's unfair to judge there). The defaults are to block basically everything. Once I change them, it starts complaining that my firewall is not enabled. Honestly, I opened this app, so of course I want to RUN it.
Also, there are some dumb bugs I've noticed in 7. For example, if you right click certain files, it'll have two "Open" buttons, and the top (default) one tries to open it with... nothing. Why is there rarely an "Open With" option?!
Windows 7 prompts you when a program wants to make changes to your computer. OS X is no different. Just running a program in W7 will not trigger an alert.
Turning off your firewall is like turning off the airbags in your car. I don't know why anybody would do it, and by notifying you its working exactly as it should.
The "open" button opens a file with the default program, the "open with" button lets you open it with a different program if there's multiple associated with a certain file extension.
I got 3 "run or cancel" notifications while installing Chrome. Also, there is rarely an "open with" option in Windows, and I always need it.
I turned off my firewalls in XP because I can't access the internet because it didn't come with the right networking drivers. In 7, I'd rather just not download suspicious stuff and not have an annoying firewall that blocks all of my legit stuff.
On XP, it's a huge pain in the ass. But on 7, it's set to prompt you beforehand. By default, you should see the little screen pop up after running a program for the first time asking if you want the firewall to make an exception for it. Hit yes, and you never have to worry about it again.
I've been using 7 since the beta, and I've never had it give me any problems. If it's acting weird on you, or blocking all access by default, it's gotta be because, at some point, you or someone you know changed some setting somewhere. Go into the firewall settings and see if it's set to prompt you when it blocks a new app.
Truthfully, you shouldn't be running without a firewall. It's never a good idea to disable the built in protections provided by the OS. It's possible that they'll save your ass when you least expect it.
Say you have two programs you use regularly. We'll say the iWork suite, and some Facebook application. Both of them have legitimate reasons for accessing your contacts list, but for some reason or another, you don't want Facebook to get quite that intimate with your personal information.
With your idea, it's an all or nothing approach. Either you can't use contacts in iWork, or you're forced to allow it in Facebook. Your only option would be to run to the settings menu and flip the option on or off depending on which program you want to use. That's considerably more annoying that a simple popup that comes up on first run. A popup that, while a little bothersome at first, allows you the option for more granular control of what program uses what. You'd be inconveniencing yourself considerably later on, for the barest modicum of convenience up front.
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