[curiousuburb]

iTMS tracking and what to do about it...

BBC Story here

Apple has been criticised over a new version of its iTunes program that can keep track of a user's listening habits. The updated software includes a feature that recommends tracks similar to the music being played via iTunes. ... the data being sent back to Apple to make the recommendations included artist, title, genre as well as unique identifiers for a computer and iTunes account.

Apple is up front in the licensing agreement about contacting Gracenote/CDDB, but is less clear that iTMS is getting unique info as you listen. Boo.

In response to the complaints of privacy advocates and blog traffic about this issue, the fruit company has posted this:

Apple's advice on how to hide the MiniStore

Originally Posted by Apple iTunes sends data about the song selected in your library to the iTunes Music Store to provide relevant recommendations. When the MiniStore is hidden, this data is not sent to the iTunes Music Store.

So Apple isn't keeping this info, and provides a way to turn it off, but goes onto the cheeky list for surreptitiously mining data in the first place.

I've seldom used the 'recommended' links anyway, and I'd rather maintain more privacy, but I'm like that... how about you?

[spotcatbug]

I think if you like the recommendations feature of the iTMS (which I do, so far), it doesn't feel like they're doing anything bad. I would kinda expect them to use the info to figure out what to recommend to me. I mean, what better way to figure out what to recommend?

If you have no interest in, or plain just don't like, the recommendations feature, it's going to seem intrusive.

Perhaps they need to make what they're doing much clearer.

Maybe this was an obvious point.