Did you guys hear about the big privacy scandal involving social networking app Path? Well, apparently, the app was downloading each user’s entire address book, without consent, and keeping the information.

The uproar over the lack of a privacy policy when it comes to apps spurred Apple into action, and the company implemented a change that requires apps using address book data to require explicit user permission. Furthermore, Apple and other app stores have collectively agreed to disclose the privacy policies of apps in the App Store before a user purchases or downloads an app.

Currently, Apple’s App Store discloses age restrictions, but it does not reveal an app’s privacy policy or give any hints on what kind of content that app might take from your iDevice. Other app stores, like the Android Market, do disclose this information, so it’s about time that Apple got up to speed.

At the time of the Path debacle, and on the same day that Apple announced future policy changes, Congress was making its own inquiry into Apple’s privacy policies. Tim Cook himself has assured Congress that Apple plans on changing the way it protects address book data, in the same way that the company handles location data.

In fact, according to California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, Apple, Microsoft, HP, Amazon, Google, and RIM have all agreed to new privacy protections for people who use apps. As mentioned above, privacy policies must be presented to users before an app is downloaded, not after, and all privacy policies will be presented consistently.

Many apps have no privacy policy at all, which is set to change. Developers without privacy policies can now be subject to prosecution under California’s Unfair Competition law and/or False Advertising Law. New tools will allow customers to report apps that do not comply with the new terms.

Attorney General Harris had this to say about the new policy:

“Your personal privacy should not be the cost of using mobile apps, but all too often it is. This agreement strengthens the privacy protections of California consumers and of millions of people around the globe who use mobile apps. By ensuring that mobile apps have privacy policies, we create more transparency and give mobile users more informed control over who accesses their personal information and how it is used.”

Though many of us will likely just click agree and allow an app to install anyway, having access to an app’s privacy policy may prevent app developers from more unscrupulous practices. And as for those apps with no current policy at all, this will make them more mindful of the information they’re taking, since it will be available for everyone to see. And of course, it will make us all more aware of what’s up for stake when we download yet another free farming game.

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