After a social media slapping a barrage of negative press, Path today released a new version of its iOS application that allows users to opt-out of having their contacts shared.
Path co-founder and CEO Dave Morin apologized for his company’s not-fully-transparent method to acquire new users. We will see if this is enough to end a rocky period in one of the most promising social media apps available.
Original Story
One of the most popular social networking apps available for iOS and Android devices is in a bit of hot water.
Path, a mobile-conceived blogging and status update tool, is apparently uploading iOS contact and address book information without explicit permission from users. This was discovered by accident by developer Arun Thampi.
While there is no evidence or reason to believe Path is doing anything wrong with user-data, co-founder and CEO Dave Morin told TechCrunch that it is working to be more transparent in terms of how the company harnesses user-driven data.
“This is currently the industry best practice and the App Store guidelines do not specifically discuss contact information,” Morin said. “However, as mentioned, we believe users need further transparency on how this works, so we’ve been proactively addressing this.”
As this is creating sandstorm among the digerati press, don’t be surprised to see changes in Path policy in the very near-term. Stay tuned.
